


The Prince Of Gallifrey

by Rachel_Lu



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Coronation, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Journalism, Modern Royalty, but against their will, they're dorks anyways, you know what - Freeform, you'll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-05-13 13:45:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 38,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14749988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Rachel_Lu
Summary: A prestigious journalist, Rose is sent by her boss to follow the coronation of Prince Theta of Gallifrey, who is known for being a bit *much* in the eyes of the press.  She finds him completely insufferable, but she's been offered a room at the castle.  She'll just have to stay there until the coronation ends....





	1. Chapter 1

The day had started quite normally.  Painfully normally in fact. Rose was a diplomat, of sorts.  There was a lot of trust in her since her father ran an international company, but she’d picked to live her life as a journalist.  She liked the job she’d chosen, and she had plenty of room for improvement. 

She was very much trusted by her superiors and was known for telling the whole truth. She didn't see the point in mincing words and would never do so. She very much felt that she was the voice of integrity at her paper,  _ The London Bird.   _ It was prestigious, in a way, but there were people that wrote for it that barely took it seriously. 

Well, the day had  _ started  _ normally, but one single line changed her life forever.  She just didn’t know it yet.

“Rose, I’m shipping you out.”

Rose looked up her boss, Sarah Jane Smith, and dropped her pen on her desk. “What?  Are you firing me?”

“No,” Sarah Jane laughed, leaning on the edge of Rose’s desk. “Look, you’re great here, but we need you to do some work overseas.  That little kingdom, Gallifrey?”  
“What about it?” Rose asked. “You want me to do a story over there?”

“They’re crowning Prince Theta next month, and there’s going to be a lot of lead up to the festivities,” Sarah Jane explained.  “I’ve been given a press pass to give to whoever I see fit. You’re the most respected overseas.”

“Uh…” Rose blinked.  “Isn’t Prince Theta an insufferable git? Why is the king abdicating the throne to him?”

Sarah Jane laughed.  “His father is unfit to rule.  Too sick and old, they say. And since his mother died in that accident, his father doesn’t really want anything to do with the affairs of state.  He’s a very poor king.” She lifted a shoulder. “And yes, Prince Theta is quite untraditional. You’d be around him quite a lot though.’

“And why is that?” Rose demanded.

“Well, because press from overseas was given the invitation to stay in the castle.”

Rose’s jaw dropped.  They’d asked them to stay in a castle?  Who else was going? She had quite a few questions that she wanted to ask, but she wasn’t sure Sarah Jane was in the mood to answer them.  After all, this was probably going to be a rushed trip.

Rose wanted to protest, she’d heard that Prince Theta was a bit rowdy. At twenty-six there was plenty that he wanted to do, and for some reason, settling down wasn’t one of them.  Well, he couldn’t count on any sweet talking from her. She would be professional only out of respect for Sarah Jane. 

As much as the trip made her wary, she also had to acknowledge that it was a really amazing opportunity and could further her career in more ways than one.  Covering a worldwide event that everyone would have eyes on could further her as a writer, more places would want her to write for them… She sighed and looked up at Sarah Jane.  

“So, when do I leave?” She asked.

“That’s the spirit!” Sarah Jane grinned. “I’ll be sending you all the information in an email today, you leave in a week.  Thought I might as well give you a little bit of notice.” 

“And what do I do if Prince Theta is  _ remarkably  _ unfit to be king?”

“Mention it in the articles you write,” Sarah Jane waved her hand. “I’m giving you access to the website for the newspaper, you can honestly publish as much as you want.  Just make sure you run them by me first.”

“Of course,” Rose said, her mind spinning. She wasn’t expecting this much freedom, or anything at all.  She didn’t keep up with Gallifrey’s politics, even if they were allies with the UK. She extended her hand to Sarah Jane. “Thank you for the opportunity.’  
Sarah Jane rolled her eyes and shook Rose’s hand.  “Of course, Rose, you’re my best journalist. I trust you.”

“I appreciate it.”

The email that Rose got from Sarah Jane later that day made the situation all that much more real. She didn’t think that it  _ wasn’t  _ real of course, but seeing a plane ticket and how to exchange currency made it very, very real.  She printed out all the information and blew out her cheeks, leaning back against her office chair.  

This was going to be interesting.  

***

Rose spent the following week packing and searching up information on Prince Theta. He seemed to be incredibly smug, and though he was often seen with girls, his relationships never seemed to go very far.  She wondered if he had a fear of commitment, or if girls just couldn’t stand him once they got to know him.

She would guess that one was more probable.

He was a good looking man, though he didn’t necessarily act like a prince.  He dressed casually as often as he could, even when he went on hospital visits and the like.  When he was at ceremonial events, however, that was an entirely different story. He wore the navy blue ceremonial uniform, complete with the ropes and medals he had obtained with his time in the Gallifreyan military.  

From what she could discover, he was enlisted at eighteen and released at twenty one.  He’d then attended Uni until his twenty fifth year. 

She frowned. She thought she’d find more dirt on him. Though he still seemed to be a bit of a cad, he seemed to care greatly about his people, and that was more than a little reassuring.  

Rose still wasn’t sure she would like him as a person though, since he seemed incredibly smug in all his paparazzi photos, especially when caught with a girl.  She rolled her eyes as she noted more than one of those photos. She was going to have to be careful around him.

She glanced in the nearest reflective surface at her desk. Well, perhaps not. He probably wouldn’t be interested in someone like her, and that was for the best. 

The week flew by, and with all her notes on Prince Theta stored safely in a folder at the bottom of her suitcase, she boarded a plane to make the trip overseas. 

Sarah Jane had seen that she was nervous and tried to reassure her, saying that everyone she’d ever met from Gallifrey was absolutely delightful, and she’d have nothing to worry about. Rose tried to bite back the fact that Sarah Jane had never been  _ in the palace,  _ but she supposed that was besides the point.  

Someone from the palace would be waiting for her at the airport, which also ratcheted up Rose’s fragile nerves.  She was not only going to be staying at the palace, she couldn’t even have a peaceful taxi ride there. The idea of a stiff necked man escorting her into a car to take her to a palace was incredibly unnerving.  

Disembarking from the plane, though, she needn’t have worried.  A young man stood at the end of the terminal holding a sign for Miss Rose Tyler.  She waved a little and approached him, smiling when he waved back. 

“I thought they’d send someone in full uniform to get me,” Rose said, shaking the man’s hand. 

“Ah, no, they’re all in their boring meetings,” he said, with a surprisingly thick American accent.  “Captain Jack Harkness, pleasure to meet you.”

The way he said ‘pleasure’ made him sound just short of obscene.  Rose laughed. “Excuse me, but you’re not Gallifreyan.”

“Well, I sort of am,” He said, chuckling.  “Born here, raised in America until I was thirteen, and brought back here.”  He extended his arm to her and she took it, allowing him to lead her from the terminal.  “My parents are friends of the royal family, Theta was my childhood best friends. Whoops, excuse me.  Prince Theta.”

She laughed.  “I didn’t know Prince Theta  _ had  _ a best friend,” she said.  Wincing, she clapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, that was rude. He’s royalty.”

“No.  He’s an ass,” Jack laughed.  “He really is. But you might just be the one to put him in his place.”

“I’m just a journalist,” Rose protested, “I have no business talking down to a prince.”

“Oh, I think you do.”  Jack squeezed her arm. “Theta’s got no business being as snarky as he is.  His dad is the only one that gets respect from him.”

“Not even you?” Rose asked. “Sorry, starting my journalism tactics a bit early.  Do you think I’ll be able to interview Prince Theta at all?”

Jack nodded. “I’m sure if I ask him to, he’ll let you.  We’re still best friends, after all.” 

“I appreciate that, Captain.”

“Ugh, don’t call me that,” Jack laughed.  “It’s just a title. I served in the military here, got promoted a couple times.  No big deal.”

“Well, I’m sure your parents are very proud of you.”

“That they are, Miss Tyler.”

Jack led her to a sharp looking black car with the Gallifreyan flag on the windows.  Jack opened the passenger door for Rose and she climbed in, letting him take her suitcases.

“You had three bags,” Jack laughed as he climbed into the driver’s seat.  “I would be surprised but you  _ are  _ staying here for a month.  God rest your soul.”

Rose smiled. “I’m sure I’ll be able to do more than just sit in the palace and write about Prince Theta, right? I want to do all the tourist-y stuff that all the locals always seem to hate.”

“Oh, you’ll have plenty of time,” Jack assured her.  “You’re the last journalist to arrive. We only have two staying in the castle besides you.  Donna Noble, Scotland, Martha Jones, France.”

Rose frowned. “I was under the impression there would be more of us.”

“Well, it was a bit stupid,” Jack admitted, “We didn’t need to have so many people around.  There’s plenty of local journalists who will absolutely demolish this event. We wanted a couple prestigious journalists to delve deep.”

“I guess people will be writing about it whether they’re here or not,” Rose said.

“Right you are.”

The city of Totter, wherein lay the castle, was absolutely beautiful.  Rose remarked that it wasn’t really that different from London, the buildings tall and sidewalks crowded.  It made her feel a bit more at ease. There were plenty of landmarks on their way to the palace, and Rose saw national parks and little bakeries pass her by.  

“It’s beautiful,” she said, “I don’t think the pictures do it justice.”

“I think quite the same way,” Jack said, apparently happy that somebody agreed with him on the fact.  

The city was nothing, though, in comparison to the palace.  It was beautiful, and completely huge. Rose’s mouth dropped open. 

“Oh, my God,” She said, “It’s just… Huge!”

“You live in the same city of Buckingham Palace.”

“Yeah, but this is bigger!”

They went through a huge iron gate, pulling around the side of the castle.  Rose had to stop herself from gaping the whole way around, forcing herself to lean back in her seat and observe from the window.  

She found herself growing more and more nervous to meet Prince Theta, and she wasn’t sure why.  Sarah Jane had told her to wear a dress to meet him so she could curtsey. She’d be wearing skirts all month, she thought unhappily.

“Alright, Miss Tyler, I will get your bags,” Jack said cheerfully as they exited the car, “The Prince is inside.”

Rose swallowed hard and pulled her carry on over her shoulder, letting Jack take her two bigger suitcases.  Rose let Jack lead the way, staring around at the outside of the castle as they walked. It was truly stunning, classic.  She felt like she should be wearing a bigger gown. She supposed she’d be wearing one to the coronation. 

She was just starting to calm down when Jack said in front of her, “Ah, hello your highness!” 

She whipped her head away from the floral arrangement she had been looking at and looked up the grand staircase they had been approaching.  Prince Theta stood at the top of the steps, wearing a black suit, his hair artfully tousled, hand clasped behind his back. He walked down the steps and Rose fell into a curtsy.  

“Your highness,” Rose said.  

“Ah.  Miss Tyler, I presume.  You may stand.”

She did so, a little set back by how smug he looked.  He looked her over, leering just slightly. “Your photos do not do you justice.”

“Anyway, here!” Jack said cheerfully, “Well, shall we get going to drop your things off, Miss Tyler?”

“Yeah, I think we should,” Rose said.  She shot the Prince a bit of a dirty look, not about to put up with that kind of behavior.  

This might be harder than she thought.


	2. Chapter 2

 

“I apologize for him,” Jack said as he led her towards another set of stairs.  “I thought he’d be a bit more formal.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“It’s not because you’re a woman, he’s not like that,” Jack insisted. “He just thinks that he can throw you off balance.  I don’t think he likes the attention as much as he pretends.” He offered Rose an apologetic look. “And I regret to inform you that the journalists will be having dinner with him tonight.”

Sighing, Rose nodded. “I figured something like that might be the case,” she said, “I’m sure I’ll be able to keep my mouth shut.  Even though it will be difficult.”

“The King will be there as well.  Though he most likely will retire early. Since the death of the Queen he’s been in a state.”

Rose frowned, understanding. “Yeah, I can see why.  He’s not even that old.”

“The situation has aged him,” Jack said sadly, “He’s not the same, it’s hard for us to watch.  If you can work something about him into your stories, I would really appreciate it.”

“Of course.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence, which Rose was a bit glad for, so she could see everything around the castle.  It was decorated so beautifully, mostly adorned with reds and golds. It had a very regal finish to it, and she hoped to snap some pictures of it, with permission.

They reached a door at the end of what Jack informed her was the East wing, where all the guests stayed.  “Here, this is you! You’re right in the middle of the other two journalists, so I’m sure you could knock and say hello.”

Rose laughed, opening the door and allowing him in with her suitcases.  “Maybe once I catch a nap,” she said, “Thank you.”

“Sure.  I’ll come get you before dinner.”

She thanked him again and set to unpacking, hanging up her nice things and putting the rest in the chest of drawers she had on one side of the room.  It was lovely, all the wood solid and rich looking. It made her really afraid to scratch it or really do anything at all to it. 

A few minutes later she heard a knock at her door.  Assuming it was one of the other two journalists, she called out a hasty “Come in!” with her back still turned to the door. She held up the pink dress she planned to wear to the coronation up to the light, trying to see if perhaps it was a bit too sheer.

“That’s a lovely choice,” The voice of Prince Theta came from behind her, and Rose jolted, nearly dropping the dress.  She spun around, the dress clenched in her fists, and dipped into a shallow curtsy.

“Your highness,” she replied, keeping her eyes trained on the floor. She knew there was an order to things, that she should be polite and keep herself in check.  Blowing out her cheeks, she chanced a glance up. Just because he was looking so smug, she got to her feet without him telling her to.

“I thought you were someone else,” she said.  

“Well, Jack said I should probably come apologize for my behavior.”

“So you didn’t come apologize because you wanted to?” She asked, quite before she could stop herself. She wasn’t sure what it was about this man that was just so infuriating.  He always looked like he was sure he was the best person in the room, she’d seen that in magazines and on television as well. It was just as insufferable in person.

His smile wavered. “Well, Jack is my advisor as well as my friend.  He said I’d behaved rudely to you.”

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. “And do  _ you  _ think you were being rude?”

His easy smile fell back into place.  “I think you’re a very lovely woman, MIss Tyler.  Is it so wrong to admire that?”

“Makes me feel like a slag,” she responded. “And I’m not.  I’m a very admired journalist back in London and I won’t have you taking down my worth because you think I’m nice to look at.”

“No, no it’s not that!” he said, frowning.  “I’ve read some of your work, I think you’re very talented.  But when a brilliant mind is locked up in a beautiful package, you can see where I might be distracted.”

Rose was not impressed by his flowery words.  She half expected that he’d spoken the same way to the other two journalists, and had probably gotten a favorable response.  He wouldn’t be getting one from her. She refused to react at all to his words, even though she could see in his eyes that he was hoping for some sort of reply.

“Do you think that’s a compliment?” She decided on.

He blinked.  “What?”

“Do you think that’s a compliment?” She repeated, raising her eyebrows at him.  “My goal is not to distract you, your highness. My goal is to write about your coronation and pray to God for you rpeople, since you’re to be their king.”

Prince Theta frowned, and stepped towards her. “Hang on, now.  I may be a bit foolish at times, but I do care for my country. I would do anything to make my father proud, you must believe that.”

“Oh, I don’t have to believe you,” Rose said, “All I have to do is write objectively. I can do my job  _ very  _ well in that sense.”

“I won’t have you bad mouthing me to the press,” Prince Theta’s eyes darkened, a storm brewing behind them.  “Regardless of what you may think, I am not a bad person. I care about my people, I care about my father. I don’t want this instance to give him a heart attack.”

Rose laughed, turning back to her things and continuing to unpack. “I’m going to approach it  _ objectively,”  _ She said, drawing out the word.  “I’ll write about the most basic things, since you aren’t terribly interesting.”

Hearing the Prince sputter behind her was a bit enjoyable, though if she was asked, she would say that it wasn’t satisfying in the least.  She went to hang up her pink dress, brushing past him in the process. 

“I’m  _ plenty  _ interesting.”

“Really?  Because all I’ve seen you do in the media is flounce around with girls and pretend like you know some nationwide secret.  Do you do  _ anything  _ political?  I know the monarchy in Gallifrey isn’t run by a parliament or anything, you really do have power.”

He was still staring at her, his eyes snapping with what she guessed was fury.  His jaw was clenched and she had to admit, a bit unhappily, that he was a very beautiful man. She lifted her chin.  She wasn't going to let that faze her. She was a grown woman. She could handle a man that was at least slightly good looking.  It was a dare, she knew. She wanted him to say something to her, was hoping he would even say something infuriating so she could fight with him some more. 

“What an inappropriate question to ask a Prince,” he said, and she was shocked, realizing what her station was.  She had no right to talk to him like this. She was here to do a job and insulting the  _ future king of Gallifrey  _ was not part of it.  Swallowing, she closed the wardrobe. 

“My apologies, your highness,” she said coldly. “I guess it wasn’t my place.  I’d appreciate it if you kept the comments about my body to a minimum, though.”

She looked down to see that his hands were clenched at his sides, and he was breathing heavily through his nose. She didn’t think he would be quite so upset with her words, and she thought that maybe there was some substance to this Prince.  Not that she would bother to investigate that. 

Prince Theta moved to stand in her line of sight again. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you are just a journalist.”

“A journalist with friends,” She snapped, wondering what it was about this man that triggered her to shout so easily.  She turned to stand nose to nose with him, breathing hard. “Funny how you’re always caught with women and not any mates.  Never down at the pub. What do you  _ do  _ all day?”

“I’m planning to be King,” he said, nearly spitting the words at her.   “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

‘If that’s supposed to be insulting, it really isn’t,” Rose said, scrunching her nose up at him. “I’ve never had any aspirations to be King.”

Prince Theta looked like he was going to explode. She’d never made a man angry so quickly and she was a bit surprised at the whole thing.  She really thought she might be able to be civil, but he was just too much. Someone that pompous deserved to be knocked down a few pegs, even if he was a Prince.

“You are positively infuriating, Miss Tyler,” he said through gritted teeth.  She frowned, turning to face him.

“Likewise, Prince Theta,” she said, keeping her tone level.

“I suppose I will see you at dinner?”

“Only because I’m expected to be there and out of respect for your father!”

“Fine!”  Ignoring all decorum, the Prince left the room hastily, slamming her door shut.  Rose clenched and unclenched her jaw, trying to avoid the odd feeling that Prince Theta had given her.  Something about that man was undeniably attractive, though she wasn’t about to admit it. She blew out her cheeks and set about to violently unpacking. 

A few moments later there was another knock at her door.  Assuming it wasn’t Prince Theta again, she opened it to see two women standing there, looking very worried. 

“Donna Noble,” Said one of them, sticking her hand out. “Are you alright?”  
“Oh, I’d heard you’d be here.”  Rose nodded to the other woman. “Martha Jones?”

The other woman, Martha, nodded with a very lovely smile. “Yeah, that’s me.  Look, we heard yelling, we were just worried.”

Rose winced.  “Yeah. I’m Rose, I just got here, and I’ve already offended the Prince of Gallifrey.”

“Well, from what I’ve seen that wouldn’t be hard to do,” Donna said, rolling her eyes.  “He’s  _ annoying.” _

Rose laughed.  “Yeah, he really is.  I’ll probably be in a lot of trouble by the end of this.”

“Well, maybe not,” Martha said, “He’s not going to admit he got into a fight with a journalist so soon before his coronation. He may be hot headed, but he’s not stupid.”

The women chatted for a bit, and Rose felt a bit more at ease, thinking if nothing else she might have a bit of fun with the whole situation.  Her nerves began to calm and by the time they parted to get ready for dinner, she felt completely calm.

She dressed in a dark green dress that hit her at the knee. It had a scoop neckline and a thin black belt cinching the waist, accentuating her figure.  She wore nude tights underneath, having heard that the royal family really liked everyone to look their best, no matter what. As a guest of the royal family, she thought she should probably keep up appearances. 

Pushing all thoughts of the irritating prince out of her mind, she slid on black heeled shoes and looked at herself in the mirror.  She felt like a visitor of royalty, and she wasn’t quite sure why. She set her shoulders back and regarded herself. 

“Come on, Rose,” she murmured to herself, almost shaking her hands out with the nerves that were starting to kick in.  She’d be meeting the King of Gallifrey today. As his visitor. At his dinner table. She swallowed hard and ruffled her hair a little, doing what she could to adjust it and make it look more than a little decent.  

After she adjusted herself another couple of times, she went back to knock on one of the other girls’ doors.  It ended up being Martha’s, and the other girl answered the door, in a lovely yellow dress similar to the cut of Rose’s, save for the fact that Martha’s had no belt. 

“Try not to get in a screaming match at dinner, alright?”  Martha said, smiling a little.

“Yeah.”

Donna exited her room shortly after, and the three journalists were escorted by Captain Jack down to the dining hall. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow!!! All the love and comments you guys are giving this means so much to me!!!! Thank you!

   Rose marveled at the beauty of the castle once more on the way down to dinner, now with Jack and her two new friends. They found Gallifrey as enchanting as she did, and were already planning on writing prologue pieces just on the kingdom and its surroundings. Rose found herself wanting to do so too, though she didn’t want to steal their ideas. 

        “I think you ladies will find this place quite agreeable,” Jack said over his shoulder. “Hoping that Prince Theta stays in line.”

       Donna laughed. “Oh, we’ll see about that, then.”

      If the castle was beautiful, the dining hall was absolutely breathtaking. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, over a long mahogany table. It was a huge room, and Rose speculated that more tables were set up in the room when parties were held. 

The room was also draped in reds and silvers, a crimson carpet covering the floor.  She swallowed hard and followed Jack to three chairs all next to each other. She was seated on the left, Donna next to her and Martha on the right side.  It was clear that the table could be expanded, but there would not be any more guests besides themselves. 

“Are you eating with us?” Martha asked Jack, looking a little nervous.  

“Well, not normally, but now, yes.  I’ll be Prince Theta’s official guard once he’s crowned King, so the  _ current  _ King wants me to eat with them.”

“Does the current King’s guard eat with him?” Donna asked curiously.  She looked like she was itching to break out her notebook.

Jack laughed, sitting across from Rose.  “No, not exactly. The King refuses that help. Prince Theta’s a bit nervous though, so he wants that service.  It’s traditional to the royal family here.”

The four of them chatted, and Rose filed away a bit of that information to write up for her first article for Sarah Jane.  It seemed there was a lot of protection involved with the Gallifreyan royal family. They were a very nervous group. With the amount of assassination attempts, she supposed she shouldn’t be too surprised. 

The door swung open, and a man dressed in ceremonial garb entered. “Guests of the King, presenting the King of Gallifrey and Prince Theta.”

Everyone stood at their seats and a man dressed in a suit who looked far older than his actual age, and Prince Theta entered the room.  Jack placed a fist over his heart and bowed, and the women curtsied. 

“Oh, none of that while you’re our guests,” the King said, smiling at them all.  “Except for you, Jack. It’s your job.”

Jack laughed a little as they all took their seats. “Yes, your majesty.”

The King was the only one who sat at the end of the table, showing his authority clearly.  He flicked a hand at the man who had opened the door, who bowed and exited. Rose guessed that meant that the first course of dinner would be coming soon.  She realized just then how hungry she was. 

“Now, I think I should introduce our guests.  Theta, this is Martha Jones, Donna Noble, and Rose Tyler.  They are the visiting journalists.”

Theta’s eyes locked onto Rose and he nodded slowly. “We’ve met.”  

Rose pursed her lips to keep herself from saying anything. Oh, they’d  _ met  _ alright.  She looked to Martha, who looked a little afraid, as though a confrontation was going to break out at the royal dinner table.

Well, if Theta wanted to fight, that was fine, but she wasn’t about to get involved with it. 

“Yeah, Captain Jack introduced us earlier,” Donna chimed in cheerfully.  “We should probably interview you at some point, Prince Theta, if that’s alright with you.”

Having successfully defused the situation, Donna nodded to herself and took a drink of the water that sat in front of her. 

The King took matters into his own hands and spoke next, noticing something a little off with his son.  “Well, you three were chosen because you are quite prestigious and known for being truthful. That is very important in an event such as a coronation. We don’t want to be perceived any differently than how we are.”

“Absolutely,” Rose nodded, turning her attention to the King.  “We just want to tell your story as truthfully as we can, and document the coronation.”

“We appreciate that,” The King replied, nodding slowly.  “I am very glad that you all have such wonderful reputations. It’s very comforting.”

Rose preened a little at that, and saw Donna and Martha doing a little bit of the same. It was such a huge honor to even be in the castle, and she was a bit afraid of messing it all up.

“Well, Miss Tyler and I have met, and her reputation doesn’t quite add up with her  _ personality,”  _ Prince Theta said, an odd smile crossing his face. 

Rose frowned, not knowing what he’d say about her or to her.  She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. He could tell his dad to send her home, that she was a terrible person and would ruin everything. And the worst part was, he wouldn’t be wrong.  She’d let her emotions towards him ruin everything, and Sarah Jane would probably never let her do anything outside the country again. She swallowed hard and tried to shake her head imperceptibly at him and he winked at her, lifting a glass of wine that  _ someone  _ had poured earlier to his lips.  

“Oh?” The King furrowed his brows. “And what do you mean by that?”

“She’s a delight, father,” Theta said, lifting his glass as though toasting her.  “And quite lovely too, though I’m sure everyone at the table hasn’t failed to notice that.”

“Your highness,” Jack said warningly, throwing a glance to Rose.  Everyone else was suddenly intrigued by this conversation, although Martha looked terribly nervous about the whole thing.  

“No, she really is.  Lovely. I guess that’s why she’s so prestigious.”

“Now, Theta, I’m sure that’s not the case,” the King scolded, his bushy eyebrows drawing together in the reproach of his son.  Prince Theta looked utterly relaxed though, and Rose wanted to say something, but bit the inside of her lip to keep quiet. She didn’t want to start an argument in front of the King, which she thought must be Prince Theta’s intentions. Well, she wasn’t going to fall for it.  She wasn’t stupid.

“Well, she is,” Theta turned to Jack.  “Isn’t she lovely?”

Jack frowned. “I don’t think that’s any of my business, and your highness, that is not exactly appropriate table talk, is it?”

“Ah, you’re right, as always, Captain,” He smiled.  “Well, MIss Tyler, I’m sorry if you think me rude.”

“It’s alright,” Rose said, smiling through gritted teeth. “It’s pretty flattering to be called lovely by a prince!”

“Yeah!” Donna and Martha echoed her heartily, nervously trying to keep the attention off of Theta and Rose.  He was staring at her, a smug smirk on his face, as though he had won or something. 

The dinner, aside from Theta’s terrible side remarks, was definitely the best that Rose had ever had.  The first course was a meaty soup, and the main was a stew. It should have been plain, but it absolutely wasn’t.  It was seasoned perfectly, and paired perfectly with the wine that had been served. It was almost as though the taste of the wine changed how the food tasted entirely.  It was wonderful, really. Rose sent her compliments to the chef multiple times, as did Martha, who seemed to really appreciate good food.

“I’m very glad you ladies are enjoying the food!” The King said, “I was worried that you might not like it, considering it’s so different from the food in your countries.  We’re not terribly extravagant.”

“No, not at all,” Donna waved her hand, “But it’s certainly better than anything from home!”  

Dessert was a chocolate mousse, and by the end of it everyone had loosened up and were talking freely.  It was like they’d all been friends for years, and even the King was laughing and chatting with them. Rose noticed that he was certainly worn down, and for good reason, but he still held an air of kindness and a sort of peace.  Rose rather thought she might like to write a piece just on him before this month was over. 

The day overall had been exhausting though, and Rose was ready to go to bed by the time everyone else was talking about taking a tour of the castle.

“I don’t want to be rude,” She said as they all stood with the King.  “But I think I’ll have to turn in for the night. I’m sorry, the flight from London was brutal.”

“Don’t apologize!” The King waved a hand at her. “I’m going to bed myself.  My bones are very old, ladies.” he smiled when they laughed and continued, “Jack, please continue on with the tour.”

Rose dipped into a curtsy and went to turn, but Prince Theta stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.  

“I’ll walk you to your room, Miss Tyler.”

Rose offered him an odd look but knew it would be rude to refuse.  She nodded and let him thread her arm through his. He led her out of the room and took her through a back hallway that she hadn’t seen before. She looked up at him.

“Where are you taking me?”

“To your room,” He said simply.  “We’re just going the long way.”

“Why’s that?”

“I wanted to ask you some questions.”

“So you’re going to interrogate me in the back hallways of your castle?” Rose asked, incredulous, “Are you planning to murder me?”

He laughed, a laugh that was actually quite pleasant to listen to and warmed her up on the inside.  She wanted to pull away from him but his grip on her was just a little too strong. He was intoxicating this close, and she wasn't sure why.  She wanted to be able to just get away from him and go to sleep. 

“No, I don’t plan on murdering you.”  He turned to her, still holding onto her. “Thank you for being so kind to my father.”

“He’s… The King.”  She pulled her arm from him.  His eyes were too close, too dark, and eating her up.  He seemed to notice and smiled at her, which made her go cold again.  She crossed her arms over her chest. 

“I’m not sure what you want from me, Prince Theta,” She said, “I am just here to do my job.  I’m not here to fight with you.”

“But it is wonderful, isn’t it?” He said, getting close to her.  “You’re the first person besides Jack to challenge me.”

“Because you’re infuriating!” She hissed at him, taking a step back.  “You are cocky and insufferable and I’m only interviewing you because my boss  _ asked me to.” _

He looked soft for a moment, like he wasn’t at all the hard, painful Prince he pretended to be.  He smiled a little and shook his head. “But you do find me attractive?”

“What?!”  She shrieked. “What does that have to do with literally anything?”  
“I’ve seen you looking at me,” he said, stepping towards her again. “Aren’t you curious?  About all this… Energy?”

Rose tried to fight back her anger, because what she saw in his eyes now was loneliness.  He was a lonely man, his eyes a little sad, even as he was wearing a grin. She almost hated that even more, the fact that he was covering it up.

“I don’t think there’s any energy between us,” she said, “There’s nothing at all.  All there is, is you being an absolute wanker for no reason!”

His eye twitched and he stood up straight.  “You don’t know that there’s no reason,” he bit out, “You don’t  _ know.   _ But you… There’s something, Miss Tyler.  And something will happen. You just don’t want to admit it yet.”

“Just take me back to my room,” She said through gritted teeth.  “I am  _ not  _ having a conversation with you about what you think is sexual tension.”

“Oh, it’s more than that and you know it.”  He started walking again though, and she tagged along behind him, stewing quietly.  He didn’t seem bothered at all, a bounce in his step. For a moment, he even started whistling. 

She wanted to punch him in the back of the head. 

When they finally made it to her room, she was boiling with restrained anger.  She was no longer tired, now she wanted to get in a fight. She took a deep breath to calm herself. 

“Thank you for walking me back, Prince Theta,” She said coolly. “I’m sure I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back to him.  “Goodnight, Miss Tyler,” he said, and kissed her on the cheek before pulling back from her and smiling again.

She couldn’t even dignify  _ that  _ with a response, just grumbled as she opened the door and pushed into her room. She pressed her back against the now closed door, leaning her head against the wood. She wasn’t sure why her cheek tingled where he kissed it, but she couldn’t even think about that now.  

Once she laid down to go to sleep though…. It was all she thought about.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Goodness! I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long! For some reason it was difficult to start to turn Theta's character, which I'm trying to start to do because I don't want to write him nasty for too long.   
> Thank you for all the love on the last chapter!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Rose decided the best way for her to shake off the conflicting feelings she was feeling for Prince Theta would be to avoid him for a couple of days. She took her meals quickly and started traveling about the city, looking at landmarks and taking photos with her camera.  She knew, deep down, that Theta wasn’t a bad person, but she also wasn’t going to let him walk on her. 

Her feelings about him were confusing her enough.

Jack escorted her out most of the time, and Martha and Donna often came with her.  It was the third day of avoidance that Martha shook her head when Rose said she was going to leave again.

“Rose, I don’t know what the problem is with you and Prince Theta, but we have to interview him today.  You’ve got plenty of base material for your first story and you know that.” She arched a brow at her. “Come on.”

Rose blew out her cheeks and sat down, looking defeated. “I know,” She said softly, “He just shakes me up, and I don’t know what to do about it. I  _ can’t  _ do it.”  

“Yes you can,” Donna chimed in, “It’s your job, and from what I’ve seen, you’re good at what you do. Can’t you put your feelings aside to make these stories worth reading?”

Rose nodded. “Yeah.  You’re right, I was being silly.  I… Still am, I suppose.”

“Great!”  Martha clapped her hands. “I’ll go tell Jack that we want to interview Prince Theta today!”  She left the room and Rose felt her stomach start to churn. She didn't’ know what to do about this, didn’t know what he would think about the whole thing.  Donna sat down next to her, a maternal energy settling about her. 

“Don’t worry, we’ll keep him in line,” she nudged Rose’s shoulder. “I think he’s just so mean to you because he likes you.”

“No…” Rose laughed.  “I don’t think that’s true.  He’s just… Insufferable, and he doesn’t know how to use his emotions.”

“Exactly.  He thinks you’re probably unattainable, and he doesn’t know how to say anything about it.  And how would he? Every girl he’s gotten has fallen willingly to his feet.” She patted Rose on the knee. “Try not to worry about it too much, I’m sure everything will be fine.  In fact, I’m willing to put money on it.”

The three of them were sat on a couch facing a single chair not three hours later, and Rose found herself inexplicably in the middle.  She knew Martha and Donna meant well, but she couldn’t help being a little annoyed. Theta entered the room a few minutes after they got there and sat down. 

Donna started the recorder she had on a table between the couch and the chair and nodded to Prince Theta.  “Thank you for joining us.”

“Thank you for having me,” Prince Theta said a bit primly, and Rose started. She had a feeling it was just going to be like this.  A recorder was on, he was going to have to behave himself. She let out an internal sigh of relief, not wanting him to see it. 

“Your coronation is now in less than a month,” Martha started, since the three of them would be sharing their information for this first interview. That was only agreed upon because they’d all be so near to him anyways, it was inevitable that some things would overlap. 

“Yes,” Prince Theta nodded.  “The preparations have been going on much longer than that, though.”

“How long have you known that you would be having a coronation?” Rose asked suddenly, her interest piqued.  

He smiled at her, and it did something funny to her stomach, and also made her angry.  “For about a year, Miss Tyler. We’ve done plenty of planning to make sure that everything would turn out exactly the way we want it to. We did a very good job of keeping it all a secret.  My father thought we wouldn’t be able, but we’re better at it than we thought, apparently.”

“Why keep it a secret?” Martha asked. 

“Well, my father is exhausted. His work has drained him a lot and it’s not fair to put him through a whole year of press when the whole reason he’s abdicating the throne before his death is the fact that he is completely wrung out.  That would only make things worse.” Theta lifted a shoulder. “Well, that and the fact that he wants to mentor me during as much of my reign as he can.”

The three women were silent for a moment, taking notes, and when Rose looked up Prince Theta’s eyes were firmly trained on her. She swallowed hard and looked back to her notepad, scribbling nonsense for a moment so that she wouldn't have to look at him.

When she looked up, he was still looking at her, so she thought it might just be best if she asked the next question.  “Erm… What do you do when you’re not preparing for your kingship. You know, your hobbies, and stuff?”

“My ‘hobbies and stuff’?” His voice was teasing and Rose blushed, looking away again. He took a deep breath and leaned back against his chair.  “It’s expected that children in the royal family learn to ride horses, so I’ve done that since I was small. I love to read more than anything, though.”

“I thought you might’ve said you liked going to parties more,” Rose said, then bit her lips, looking down at her notepad.

Prince Theta let out a bark of laughter.  “The thing is, Miss Tyler, the press only catches me at my nastiest. They don’t want me to take the throne.”

“They don’t?” Donna blurted out.

“No, not at all,” Prince Theta said. “I know that the press follows me, but only when they want to, or they think I’m doing something wrong. And sometimes they’re even right.  But that doesn’t mean they should be able to spell out my reputation for me. It’s not fair.”

Martha hummed under her breath. “No, I suppose it’s not.”

The rest of the interview went quite well in Rose’s opinion, and she was learning a bit more about Prince Theta as a person. She wondered why he had to be so snarky with her but he wasn’t with Donna and Martha. Yes, she’d challenged him, but she hadn’t really done anything to warrant the level of attitude that he gave her. 

Once it was over, Rose got to her feet and tried to slip out of the room. 

“Wait, Miss Tyler, can you stay here for a bit?” Prince Theta asked.  Rose froze and Martha and Donna gave her pitying looks, but, not wanting to disobey the orders of a future monarch, they left.  

Rose stayed, though she stood by the door, ready to bolt if Theta tried anything shady again. She held onto her notepad with both hands and looked at him warily, noting that he didn’t try to get any closer to her. 

“I promise I won’t do anything funny,” Prince Theta said.  “But I want to show you the library.”

“What?”  Rose frowned, surprised at this interaction.  It was out of character for the Prince Theta she had seen thus far and she wasn’t sure that she would be able to handle it.  She squinted at him. “What’s in the library?”

“Books, obviously,” Prince Theta rolled his eyes at her. “Look, I saw you light up when I said I liked to read, so I can only assume that you like to read.  Right?”

She scuffed her toe on the carpet.  “Well… Yeah.”

“And you’ve been avoiding me.”

“Yeah.”

“I want to apologize.”

“For real this time?”

“Yes.”  He offered his arm to her, but she shook her head. 

“I don’t want you to touch me,” She said firmly, looking him in the eyes so that he would know she was serious.  

Instead of the barely concealed rage that she thought she would see from him, she saw another wave of sadness like the one she’d seen the last one she saw him.  She had to wonder what had happened to him to make him so  _ sad.   _ He looked away from her and sniffed. 

“I’m only trying to be polite,” He snapped. “Just follow me.”

She did, still not sure what was going to happen. She just tailed along behind him, up a set of stairs and to a part of the palace that she hadn’t seen yet.  Double doors led to the library, and when Theta swung the doors open, she found her jaw dropping. 

The fact that this was someone’s private library absolutely blew Rose’s mind, and she looked at Theta, only to find that smug smile back on his face. She rolled her eyes and walked away from him, deeper into the library.  It was beautiful, absolutely huge, and seemed to go on for miles. She felt Theta walking along behind her but didn’t address him. 

Tucking her book under her arm, she looked through a few books that appeared to be fiction.

“You can take whatever you want back to your room, if you want,” Prince Theta said.

Rose looked at him suspiciously.  “What? Why?”

“It’s my apology.”

“That’s a pretty big apology,” Rose said, “A bit excessive, actually.”  She looked back to the books, because for some reason, the gesture made him look even more attractive, and he  _ was  _ attractive.  Now that he was close to her, she could smell the cologne he wore and swallowed hard.  She didn’t know how to handle the torrent of emotions that this man evoked in her, and it was even more frustrating that she couldn’t really deal with them anyway.

He shrugged. “I wanted to do something that would mean something to you.”

“Well, thanks.”  She started to look around a little more, hoping to leave him behind. 

“So, um.. Do you accept my apology?”

“Depends on what you’re apologizing for.”

“Damn it, you’re exhausting.”

Rose looked at him over her shoulder and laughed at the pathetic and slightly angry look on his face  “Thank you, I certainly try.”

After a few minutes of looking in silence, she chose a book.  “Have you read this?” She asked Theta.

He nodded and wrinkled his nose. “Didn’t like it.”

“Then I think I’ll take it with me.”

“Have you already decided that you hate me?” Theta asked as she moved to leave the library.

She frowned.  “I don’t  _ hate  _ you, but you’re very cocky, your highness.  You don’t think about what someone who hasn’t had the same life as you might think.”  She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I’ll see you tonight at dinner. Thank you for letting me borrow the book.”

“What do you mean?” Prince Theta asked. “I thought- I do my best to level with my people.”

“You don’t,” Rose said softly.  “You haven’t lived like your people, so you can’t really expect to understand their struggles.  You go to posh parties and hang around posh people. The women you date are covered in expensive things.  You can’t pretend like you’re the  _ best  _ person in the world because of circumstance.”

“That has nothing to do with us,” Prince Theta pointed out, and though Rose knew he was right, she felt like she should tell him what she’d already said. Based on the look on his face, no one ever had before.  She shook her head. 

“It does, in a way,” She replied. “You’ve got to stop pretending, Theta.”

He stepped forward as she turned to leave.  “Then teach me.”

“What?”  
“Teach me what the middle class goes through,” He said, “Unless you think you can’t.  Unless _you_ think you’re too good for that too.”

She smiled, and realized she could get  _ far  _ too much fun out of this.  “Okay,” She said, “You’ll see how I grew up.  How’s that sound?”

Prince Theta accepted her challenge and crossed his arms over his chest.  “That sounds perfect.”  
Rose batted her eyelashes at him, glad the game was back on.  If things got too emotional with him, she was sure that she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from giving into the more animal instincts that he made her want to tap into. There  was something about him that drew her on a base level, but something else that… Intrigued her. 

“Great!” She turned from the doorway. “Tomorrow we ride the bus!”

She decided the sputtering she heard behind her would be worth the smelly public transit.  


	5. Chapter 5

 

“I think it’s a great idea!” Sarah Jane said to Rose on the phone.  She had her head in her hand, her other hand pressing her phone to her ear. 

“All I can do is embarrass myself,” Rose moaned, “I don’t know how to show him his own city.”

“Well, you told me you’ve been exploring a bit,” Sarah Jane said, “And you’re in your room tonight to write your first story, right?”  

“Right,” Rose admitted.  “I’ll be sending it to you later on tonight.”

“Well, good,” Sarah Jane laughed, “And maybe your next story could be about the real Prince Theta, what he’s like in the real world.  He lives in a bit of a bubble, right?”

Rose blew out her cheeks. “Yeah, I guess I could try that… You know, that is, if he isn’t completely terrible.”  

“I think you’ll bring out some good in him.”

After Rose rang off, she sat down at her desk and started typing out her story on her laptop.  It was easier than she thought, to write about the city, what she’d seen, the pictures she’d taken.  She decided in this article, to ignore Theta entirely. His country was beautiful, and it would start there.  She didn’t know exactly where to go, so she started to research places to go that weren’t  _ super  _ tourist-y.  She could do this. 

Between flicking between writing her story and looking for places to annoy Theta, she didn’t go to sleep until two in the morning.  She was exhausted and worried, not sure why anxiety was churning through her at the thought of this ‘tour’.

She woke up feeling groggy and strange.  She sat up in bed, looking around at her surroundings.  It was nine o’ clock in the morning, which wasn’t late, necessarily, but late enough that she was upset with herself for sleeping in.  Grumbling to herself, she rolled out of bed and set about getting dressed. 

A pink flowy dress that hit her knee was the pick for today, and she made sure to put shorts on underneath in case it was windy.  

After doing her hair and makeup, she heard a knock at the door.  Assuming it was Theta, she opened it, surprised to see Captain Jack smiling down at her. 

“Hello, Miss Tyler,” he said cheerfully.  “I was supposed to come and wake you earlier, but I was told that you might need a little extra rest, seeing as you have to babysit his royal highness today.”

Rose burst out laughing. “Yeah, well, that’s okay.  I’m just sorry I missed breakfast. Was the King upset?”

“The King doesn’t get upset very easily,” Jack admitted. “He was just worried about you.  I told him the jetlag finally caught up to you.”

“Thanks.  I can meet Prince Theta downstairs in a few, I just want to grab something to eat first.”

“I’ll have him bring something for you, just be downstairs in around ten minutes?”  Jack asked it, but it was more of an instruction and she knew it. There was a schedule to everything, after all, she was a bit foolish to think that she’d slept in. They’d  _ let  _ her sleep in, and she was now back on the schedule.

Rose nodded. “Okay.”

She met Theta at the bottom of the staircase, and burst out laughing when she saw him. He wore a three piece suit and dress shoes, a pair of sunglasses hooked onto the collar of his Oxford. He was holding a plate from breakfast for her.  

“Okay, you have to change,” she said, taking the plate from him. “Don’t you own any casual clothes?”

“I didn't know where we were going,” he said defensively, “Besides, won’t others be dressed like this?”

“In this heat? Not unless they work in an office.”  She jerked her chin and picked up a piece of bacon from the plate.  “Go on, get changed. I'll wait here.”

“Then how will I know what to wear?  Come with me,” He started walking away and without thinking she followed him, munching on the pieces of her breakfast she could eat with her hands.  She didn’t think she would ever feel that comfortable in a castle, but there was something about it that made her feel oddly at home. 

Prince Theta led her through the hallways to his quarters, which was very, very far from hers.  She felt her jaw drop when the door was opened to reveal what was essentially a mini house inside.  There was a hallway, a bathroom on the left, a small kitchen farther up the hallway on the right. A table with two chairs sat in the kitchen, and across from it all was a living area.  There was another doorway, deeper inside, that Rose assumed led to his bedroom. Overall, it was bigger than her flat. 

“Wow,” she said softly.

“Go ahead, take your breakfast over there, I’ll run an outfit by you.”

Rose walked over to the glass table, feeling a little dizzy.  She’d never seen something like this. She set down her plate on the table and sat down.  “Go on, then.”

Theta tried a couple outfits that made Rose wrinkle her nose at him because they were just too casual, absolutely forced.  He was clearly dressed by a stylist, and after Rose finished her breakfast, she couldn’t take the bad outfits any longer. 

“Your highness, your fashion sense is absolutely terrible.  Can I come look?”

He scowled at her. “How dare you.”

“I’m being honest,” Rose snapped.  “Come on, let me see what you have.”

It should have been awkward, her rifling about in the Prince’s things, but his room was oddly normal.  It wasn’t decorated extravagantly, and she found herself rather fond of the red bedclothes he had. She shut that all away and started looking through his things, eventually picking up a blue t-shirt and pair of jeans.  She tossed them at him. “Those with trainers.”

“What? That’s it?” He seemed confused. He frowned. “Are you trying to sabotage me?” He asked. “These are plain. Every royal wears nice things out.”

“Well, today you’re not a royal.  Today you’re a middle class citizen. You’ll want a hat too, if you don’t want to be recognized.”

Despite the grumbling and name calling he did, he got dressed and put on a plain black baseball cap with the ensemble.  Rose smiled when he came out from the room, scowling at her. “Well?”

“Perfect. Come on!” She got to her feet and retraced their steps to the front of the castle. 

“I’ll just have Jack pull the car along-”

“Nope.”  She turned and crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s not what middle class people do. We’ll walk to the bus station.”

“How do you know where the bus station is?” Theta snapped, unfolding his sunglasses and glaring at her. It seemed he wasn’t going to stop glaring at her, actually.  She smiled sweetly at him in return, knowing it would just make him angrier. 

“I did my research while you slept.”

Since he was stewing at the idea of not getting driven to the bus station, she walked along ahead of him through the giant space that was a roundabout in front of the palace.  Theta had them let out of the giant gate at the edge of the property, even though it seemed he thought about keeping them in.

“Don’t mope too much, or your public will recognize you,” Rose laughed as he slid his sunglasses on.  It would do enough to disguise his identity that hopefully they wouldn't be bothered.

Rose offered change to the driver when they got on the bus, and Theta took the window seat, Rose the edge.  She looked over at him, grinning. “Not so bad, right?” she asked cheerfully, even though she herself didn’t like the bus very much.  

“I mean… No,” he said hesitantly, then looked over at her suspiciously. “Do you not have a car?”

Rose blushed and looked away from him. “Can’t afford one,” she mumbled.  “Ride the bus every morning to work. Or I get a ride.”

“Oh.”  Theta shifted in his seat and looked over to the window, staring at the world that started to move beyond them.  “I shouldn’t have brought that up.”

Even then he couldn’t apologize.  She rolled her eyes and stared forward at the head in front of her.  The bus went along mildly smoothly for the most part, but after hitting a sharp turn, Rose was thrown into Theta, who wrapped his arms around her instinctively.  When the bus righted itself, everyone was chatting animatedly about it, but Rose’s face was so close to Theta’s that the only thing she heard was her heart beating and her breathing.  He was staring at her, his glasses having fallen off with the jolt of the bus. 

“Sorry,” She said, though she didn’t move.

“Don’t they put seatbelts on these things?” He asked suddenly, releasing her.  It seemed as though he hadn’t meant to grab onto her at all, and she found herself feeling dreadfully embarrassed by the whole thing.  She shifted back into her seat and tried to ignore how red her face probably was. 

“I mean, no,” she said, “There’s no need to.”

Luckily, the stop that she wanted to take him to was close enough, and they didn't’ have to sit in silence for too long.  

‘Really?” he said, looking over at her.  “You took me to the shops?”

“You ever been to the shops?”

“No.”

“Well, then!”  She gestured ahead of them. “Onward!”  She looked behind herself to make sure he was following after her and nodded to herself when she saw he was.  She gestured that they enter a rather large department store first, and when they entered she was surprised to find Prince Theta’s hand close over hers.  She furrowed her brows and turned to look at him, noting that he seemed nervous.

“It’s alright,” she said softly, “Nothin’ to be scared of really. Just people.”

“You’re right,” he said, suddenly cold, and released her hand. She rolled her eyes. One step forward, two back.  That was just how he was going to be. 

“But the bus wasn't too bad?” She asked cheerfully, trying to figure out just why she wanted to reach for his hand again. 

His lip twitched as he looked down at her.  “I guess not,” he said, “A bit bumpy though.”

“Well, yeah, that’s the way it is, you know.”  She lifted a shoulder. “Been doin’ it my whole life, you know.”

“Where  _ did  _ you grow up?”

She didn’t really want to answer, but she knew she had to.  She wanted to make sure things didn’t stay too awkward between them, though she wasn’t sure why.  “The Powell Estate, in London,” She said, looking through some t-shirts to distract herself from what his reaction might be.

“Hm.  I’ve never heard of it,” he said thoughtfully, following her into the section. 

‘You know what, you should buy something,” she said.  “I’ve got plans to take us down to the fair I saw you lot have on the pier.  You should get something nice and tourist-y to wear there.”

Theta still looked a little nervous to be around so many people, but he came alongside Rose where she was now looking at baseball caps.  She nudged his shoulder and pointed to one that said “Marry me, Theta” in bold pink letters. 

“What?” He squeaked out.

She giggled. “S’what girls do when there’s attention on the royal family.  You know. ‘Marry me, Harry’?” She shrugged. “Doesn’t work as well with your name though.”

He shrugged. “I’ll buy it for you.”

“Then it’s a shame I don’t want to marry you. Come on, pick one out you like for yourself, I’ll pick one, too.”

Theta ended up picking out a white hat with a tiny version of the Gallifreyan flag on it, and Rose chose a pink one that said simply “Gallifrey” with a red heart underneath.  She waved her selection at him. “This is the stuff we have back in London, too, and it’s actually a lot of fun if you let yourself have fun with it.”

They strolled around the store, shoulders brushing from time to time, as Theta took in the styles that his people wore.  He was quiet, and Rose wondered if the clusters of people were really getting to him. 

“We can walk to the pier from here, I looked it up,” she told him, “We don’t have to ride the bus.”

“Alright,” he said, offering her a smile, which confused her even more.  Was he trying to seduce her, and realized his earlier attempts had been poor at best?  Or was he just being genuinely nice to her? She didn’t know, and the whole thing made her head spin.  

The fact that he was absolutely gorgeous in casual clothes was not helping her thought process, either. 

Suddenly, there was a scream from one part of the store, and Theta and Rose looked up to see a girl of about fifteen or sixteen staring at them, her jaw dropped.  

“That’s Prince Theta!” She shouted, and Rose was not about to let this girl ruin their day.  Stuffing their hats into her bag, she shouted “Run!” As the store broke into pandemonium. 

Theta barely had time to toss a note for their purchase on the counter before Rose was grabbing his hand and tugging him out of the store and along the street, doing their best to escape his adoring fans. 

“Do they often ambush you like this?” Rose asked loudly as Theta started to pull  _ her  _ along instead of the other way around. 

“Sometimes.  That’s why I don’t go to the shops!” He snapped, and pulled her into an alleyway when they were almost out of sight of the few who were still following. 

Rose realized, quite suddenly, that her hands were gripping his shirt, and one of his was on her hip, the other pressed to the brick was behind her.  She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to groan in frustration. 

God, things could  _ not  _ get any worse.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am beating their day out to death, and I severely apologize, except I'm not sorry at all!! I know some of you were a bit disappointed by the lack of bus, but it was a little difficult to instigate sexual tension, but an alleyway??? Come on, now. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this!! The love that you've given this so far really inspires me <3

 

“Don’t move.”

His voice was so close to her, his breath ghosting her ear, and it sent a shiver rocketing through her.  Afraid that he might hear her, she pushed on his chest. 

“You can let me go.”

“I’d like to, but if we move-” he was cut off as he looked at her and their noses brushed. She swallowed hard, not knowing for one moment how to react to that.  She found herself wanting to pull him closer. It had been ages since anyone had touched her or been this close to her. A slow smile crawled over his face. 

“I was right,” He said softly, his hand trailing up her waist. “You do find me attractive.”

She averted her eyes from him, feeling her cheeks heat up. “Shut up.”

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” he said, moving closer to her.  She shut her eyes, simply because he was delicious and it was far better if she couldn’t look at him.  She clenched her hand in his shirt, caught between pushing him away and pulling him closer. 

“I’m not embarrassed.”

“Alright.”

He didn’t move anymore, then, and his breath sounded odd, like he was half holding it.  She realized he was nervous, and her own breath hitched. Prince Theta,  _ heir to the throne of Gallifrey  _ was nervous because of her.  

Footsteps sounded, and Prince Theta panicked. “They can’t know it’s me,” He said harshly, and without further warning, buried his face in her neck, tugging her hips and pulling her tighter against him.  

Rose’s blood lit on fire as his lips touched her neck and he began nipping and sucking at the skin there.  Her jaw dropped and her eyes fluttered closed as her arms wrapped around his neck, drawing him closer. 

He shifted against her and his kisses grew more fervent, his hat tumbling off as he drew nearer to her.  He was so  _ close,  _ and Rose found herself being even more affected by everything he was doing to her.  She’d been kissed before, and she was no blushing virgin, but she’d never had any one kiss her with quite so much passion.  Her knees were literally going weak from his attentions, and she tilted her head back to give him better access. 

He followed the line of her jaw and bit her earlobe, before pressing against her all the way, his hand slipping under her shirt.  She was very close to reciprocating, to shoving her hands into his hair and pressing kisses of her own to his head in encouragement, but held herself back. It wouldn’t do to pretend this was anything more than him keeping himself away from the teenage girls who chased him. 

Remembering why they were in this particular position, she focused her attention away from his laving tongue and turned her head towards the alley.  No one seemed to notice what they were doing, and no one was running as though in search of something. Breathing out a sigh, she tapped the back of his head. “They’re gone,” she said, her voice raspy.  

“Hm?”

‘They’re gone.”

He pulled back, his lips red and swollen and his cheeks flushed, and swallowed hard.  “Ah. Quite right!” He stepped away and wiped his mouth off before ducking down to retrieve his hat off the ground.  “I believe you said something about a fair? I’ve never been there.”

The switch in his attitude made her a little uncomfortable. Shouldn’t they at least talk about this? Shouldn’t he be a bit nervous about the fact that he’d just kissed her nearly violently against the wall of an alley? 

She swallowed hard and pulled up the collar of her dress to wipe his saliva off her neck.  “Yeah, up on the pier.”

He frowned at her.  “So, pick your jaw up, let’s go,” he said curtly, and pulled his hat back on before leaving the room.  She found herself sputtering at him but following, her cheeks still burning with embarrassment and something else that she wasn't sure she was ready to name.

Besides, she’d been with guys who were labeled as ‘bad boys’ before, and she had a feeling that Theta would be no different. It wouldn’t do for her to get attached to him.  He was disgusting, first of all. Or at least… That’s what she wanted to think. She shook herself. She was a fool, a blind fool. Just because he was attractive didn’t mean anything.  It was just what happened, the circumstance. Nothing more. 

Rose pulled up a map on her phone and shoved the hat she’d bought on her head.  “How do I look?” She asked, looking seriously at him. 

“Like a tourist,” He said blandly, and it infuriated her even more, how none of this seemed to affect him.  Just how many women did he kiss, where it didn’t affect him at all? She rolled her eyes at him, for numerous reasons. 

He stuck his hands into his pockets, going at more of a leisurely stroll as she led the way.  “So,” he said finally, “I think you might want to admit it.”

“Admit what?” She snapped.

“That you’re not made of stone.  I thought you would’ve been the kind of women that didn’t ever want attention from a man.”

“I like attention from men,” She said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “I never said I wanted attention from  _ you,  _ though.”

“Please. Miss Tyler, I was holding you up.”

“Yeah, okay,” She said. “Maybe I was trying not to pass out from absolute disgust.”  She walked a bit ahead of him and he trotted along to catch up, beaming a stupid beam at her and now wearing his sunglasses.  

“Well, maybe I’ll have to catch you off guard again and see how you feel about it then, hm?” He asked, and he was getting far too cocky for her liking.

“Sure, your highness.  I’m sure someday you’ll catch me off guard enough that I’ll like it.”  

He made an indignant sound but continued walking alongside her.  They walked in silence as Rose followed the map on her phone, looking up every once in awhile.  Theta seemed content to look around at the city, and Rose wondered when the last time was that he’d enjoyed the place he actually lived.  From the photos of him, she thought he spent lots of time at clubs and nightlife places. That must have been it, though. There were few photos of him in the daylight, after all. 

“Do you know where you’re going?” He asked (rather rudely), and luckily for her, she saw the line of the beach just as he asked her.  

She gasped and threw her phone into her bag.  “The beach!” She broke off at a run, crossing a street and peeking over the fence that separated what appeared to be a boardwalk and a beach.

“We’re not a beach town, what’s this?” Theta asked as he came up next to her.

Rose rolled her eyes and looked over at him.  “Look, I did a lot of studying on your country.  We’re only about a half hour from the palace, and though this is a  _ small  _ beach, it’s something entertaining for young people that they can do in the daytime.”

He winced.  “I don’t think I’ve been to this beach since I was small, actually,” he admitted.  “But it’s easy to forget that we’re near a beach at all.”

“Yeah.  This part of Gallifrey is kind of similar to London, so I thought it was weird too… But this is a very small country, so the beach actually makes sense.”

Theta leaned over and started to take off his shoes.  He stuffed his socks in one of them and picked them up.  He shrugged when he saw her staring at him. “We might as well walk on the beach towards the pier.  Which way is it?”

“That way,” Rose pointed to the right, down the side of the beach.  “Come on!” She ran down onto the beach and pulled her camera out. Looping the strap around her neck, ste took pictures that captured the beach as well as the city skyline.  It was such an odd combination, and something very Gallifrey specific. She could use it in her second article. 

“Might as well get one of you,” She said, when she saw Theta trying to avoid the lens.  “You’re the person we’re all here to write about, anyway.”

He scowled at her. “But you don’t want to be here.”

Rose frowned. “Sure I do.’  
“But you don’t.  You’d rather be at home, writing about your own country.”

“Your highness.  I don’t get to travel.  I can’t afford it. All my money is spent on my bills and necessities. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, I get to go to a club, or something of the like.  So this trip is a literal dream come true for me.’ She pointed at him, one hand still holding her camera. “Don’t let that go to your head.”

His scowl turned into a preen, which she was afraid of, but she liked him better smiling.  Shaking her head, she posed him for a picture, framing him with buildings. She squinted at the photo after taking it and nodded.  

“What do you think?” He asked, starting to walk in the direction of the pier.  “Are you going to use it?”

“Maybe, if it fits with the article,” She said.  “I take a lot of pictures I don’t use, I’d like to get a couple of you at the fair.  There might be some nice lighting there.”

The walk to the pier was nice, which Rose wasn’t really sure would happen.  Theta seemed to be taking in the world around him, and she wondered, not for the first time, how long it had been since he honestly enjoyed himself. 

Well, it was absolutely perfect until a few men catcalled Rose when the wind pushed her skirt up.  She blushed and pushed her hands onto the front of her skirt, feeling completely violated by her own clothing. 

“The miracle of shorts,” she muttered, looking up at Theta.  

He laughed, and she was pretty sure it was the first genuine laugh she’d ever heard out of him.  He turned a frown on the men who had called out to her and set his hand on her lower back. She turned to look at him, surprised, and he shook his head. 

“They shouldn’t speak to you like that.” 

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Your highness, they hollered at me, they didn’t even really say anything.”  

He let her go and shrugged.  “That doesn’t make it alright.”

They reached the fair and she saw Theta light up with the excitement of a young boy. He pulled his wallet out and purchased tickets for every attraction for them both instantly, all somehow without revealing his identity.  He was quite good at concealing himself from everyone around him, and it made her a bit sad. 

“When were you last at a fair, your highness?” She asked him.

He looked around at the lights and shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever been to one.”  He didn’t sound sad at all, almost like it didn’t affect him. She pursed her lips, almost wishing that he’d have some sort of emotion about it.

It seemed that outside of the castle, his guard was let down entirely.  He was gentle, somehow so much kinder, and what she had interpreted as a mean streak was simply what he thought was banter.  His social skills were not… Amazing, but he was much kinder than she thought he was. 

“Well then, we’ll have to experience everything before sundown.”  She led him to the big ferris wheel that was the center of the whole fair, but he stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

“I’ve seen people in movies ride those at night, when all the lights are lit up,” He said, “It’s still daytime.”

The fairs that she’d been to in London were nothing compared to Gallifrey’s little fair.  It didn’t reek of people, there wasn’t a huge crowd, but it was still overwhelming on some level. She found herself reaching for his hand several times but quickly drew it back. Just because she was a little nervous didn’t mean that she could go grabbing for him whenever she felt like it.  She blew out her cheeks and trailed along behind him as he weaved his way through the crowd. 

She’d never seen excitement fill him so, even in press photos, and took the opportunity to snap several photos of him. As the sun went down, they tasted every food the place had to offer, all the sugary foods that made Rose absolutely buzz, and Theta even went back for a second funnel cake.  He seemed to be really enjoying himself, and he absolutely dominated the carnival games, she got a couple more shots, including an absolutely wonderful shot of him in profile, smiling in response to another win, rainbow lights lighting him up. 

“What are you looking at?” He asked, furrowing his brows at her as she was hunched over her camera.  

She quickly switched it off, not sure why she didn’t want him to see it, and looked at the little stuffed turtle he was holding in his hands.  She laughed. “How are you so good at these?”

He shrugged, turning the little stuffed animal over in his hands.  “Probably the pent up energy from never playing one before. Will you put this in your bag?” 

She nodded, taking it from him and putting it into her bag with the small dragon, teddy bear, and three sparkly rabbits that were different colors that he’d won.  She was lucky they all fit, since she was carrying her camera.

As they continued to play their way through the games, Rose found herself smiling at the little pink wolf that was one of the prizes.  It reminded her of a toy she’d had when she was young, and she couldn’t help but wish she was a little better at these games. 

A few minutes later, the same little wolf was being extended to her by Prince Theta. She looked up at him in surprise, wondering when she’d missed his latest win. 

“Truce?” He said softly. 

She blinked, surprised at this, but smiled.  “You saw me looking at it.”

“Well… Yeah.”  He extended it to her and she took it, holding it against her chest.  

“Thank you, your highness.”

He wrinkled his nose at her. “Well, come on, don’t sit there sniveling, I want to see  _ everything  _ from the top of the ferris wheel.”

She watched his retreating back and hugged the wolf, smiling at him before following along behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

Like most ferris wheels, the one that Theta and Rose boarded stopped at the top, and Rose found herself a bit in awe of how lovely it was. She’d been on plenty of ferris wheels before, but this was somehow different.  The lights in Totter were lovely, and Rose found herself falling absolutely in love with the city. 

Theta let out a low whistle and looked around at the sights as they went up.  “I’ve never seen the city like this before.”

“Yeah,” Rose said, her voice a little distracted.  She looked over at Theta and grinned. “Lovely, isn’t it?”

“It is,” he admitted, almost as though he didn’t want to.  “I don’t leave the castle too much, I have to be honest.”

“I know,” Rose said, lacing her fingers together in her lap, looking around.  It stopped at the top, their car swinging a little. 

They sat in silence for a moment, and Rose tilted her head back, feeling the salty ocean wind touch her face.  She felt a sense of peace wash over her, until she heard Theta’s voice cut through her silence. 

“Are you scared?” He asked softly.

“No,” Rose shook her head and opened her eyes. “No, not at all.  Just… Enjoying the quiet. It’s nice, yeah?”

“I suppose it is,” he said, and then let out a sharp, self deprecating laugh.  “It just makes me want to travel, and I never can. Look,” he said, pointing out ahead of them.  “That’s not far. None of this is far, even the horizon. But beyond that… Miss Tyler, I’ve never even been to London.”

Rose pursed her lips, feeling almost bad for him.  She didn’t realize how much suffering was locked up in this man. “You’re a lost soul,” she said, almost as though it was something that she’d said before her mind had fully discovered. 

He ran his hand through his hair. “Well, in a way, I suppose,” he said.  “I just never got to go anywhere without my family. Any traveling, we did as the royal family, so we weren’t allowed to go exploring.”  He shrugged, the lights of the city and the carnival reflecting in his dark eyes. “Sometimes I just wish I wasn’t even a royal.”

“Have you told your dad this?” Rose asked. “Maybe he’d be willing to be king a little longer, or-”

Theta laughed harshly.  “Or he’d abdicate the throne to my cousin, Harold, who’s an absolute arse.  He doesn’t care about Gallifrey at all, only himself. I care too much about Gallifrey to let that happen.”

“You could start a parliament,” she suggested, “Get you some help so that you  _ could  _ go on trips, and enjoy being young.”

“But what if I don’t want to turn over Gallifrey to them?”  He leaned back in his seat. “It’s all too much to think about right now.  I don’t know..”

Rose winced. “Sorry.  Didn’t mean for things to get so heavy.”

He sighed. “That’s alright,” he said, “I’d rather we didn’t talk about it any more.”  His voice was sharp, but not as sharp as it had been with her before. He had softened up, but she had a feeling it was out of exhaustion in regards to the situation.  She nodded, and looked away from him, back over the carnival. 

The car started to come down all too soon, and the two of them didn’t speak to each other at all before they reached the bottom of the ferris wheel. Somewhere along the way, Theta had put his sunglasses back on along with his cap.  He offered a tight lipped smile to the woman who helped them get off the ride, and shoved his hands in his pockets. Rose felt a bit foolish that she thought Theta might try to take her hand. 

“Well, did you have fun?” She asked, trying to bring up the mood a bit.

“I did,” he said, sounding a bit surprised.  “Perhaps we’ll have to leave the palace before you leave Gallifrey again.”

“Your highness, you and I both know that you don’t want to be around me that much,” Rose scoffed, waving a hand at him.

“You’re right, I don’t,” he grinned at her. “But if you’re my key out of here, then it is what it is.”

Rose remembered the way back to the palace better than Theta, but she told him they had to walk along the beach, because there was nothing quite like walking along the beach at night.  He grumbled about being tired but agreed, so the two of them walked along the beach, Rose taking her shoes off and kicking her way through the waves. 

“You’re ridiculous,” Theta remarked, rolling his eyes at her.  

“You’re not king yet,” she pointed out, “And no one knows you’re here.  You could be having fun, too.”

“I’ve had all my fun for today,” he said.

She frowned. “What, are you scared of getting wet?”

He turned to her and took his glasses off, taking the bait. “I’m not afraid of anything, MIss Tyler.”  

She looked him in the eye and walked backwards into the waves, feeling them lap at the back of her thighs through her dress.  “Prove it.”

He looked her dead in the eye as he tossed his sunglasses and hat on the sand.  He took her bag as well, which made her arch her brow at him. 

“Miss Tyler, I’m not sure you know what you’re asking for.”

“Or I do.  I’m asking you to have fun, to stop worrying so-”

He launched at her then, tackling her back into the waves.  She squealed as she hit the water, her arms wrapping around him on instinct.  She sat up in the water as soon as he righted himself, a rich laugh filling her ears.  She swiped the water out of her eyes and sputtered, looking up at him. He was sitting in the water up to his waist, where it was up to her chest. 

“Are  you a monarch or a twelve year old boy?” She snapped.

He grinned. “I don’t know who said I couldn’t be both!” He said.  “You’re right. The water’s nice.”

She slicked her hair back and clenched her fists, wanting to punch him in the face. “I meant  _ wade  _ in the water, not slam  _ dunk me into it.” _

He laughed.  “You know, it’s a bit sexy when you get all upset,” he said, “Almost like you’re going to eat me up.  I’m not sure I’d mind.”

“You are impossible!”

“I saved your bag!” he laughed. “Come on. You’re telling me to live a little but you don’t want to get a little wet?”  He turned over in the water and swam out farther, shoes and all. Rose laughed in spite of herself and stood up, wringing out the bottom of her dress.  Theta was now up in neck high water, and he beckoned her over with one hand. Rolling her eyes, she shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. His eyes were immediately brought down to her chest and he smiled at her again, though this was more of a smirk.  He swam towards her again, rising out of the water like some sort of skinny Poseidon. 

He grabbed her around the waist and tugged her against him.  She kept her arms crossed, but looked up into his face. “What are you playing at, Prince Theta?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, searching her eyes intently.  “I have absolutely no idea.”

Her heart hammered wildly in her chest and she had a sick feeling that he was going to kiss her.  She wasn’t sure if she wanted that. On one hand, a fling with the Prince of Gallifrey would be electric, and the fighting they did would probably make the physical aspect better, but… It wouldn’t do either of them any good to get attached, which was what would probably happen. So instead of letting him do anything, when his breath coasted her lips she pushed him, landing him in the water. 

He cried out but ended up laughing, sitting up among the waves.  “And you say I’m the impossible one.”

“We’ll dry on our way back,” Rose tossed over her shoulder, scooping up her bag along with his things.  She handed them to him but he held his hat and sunglasses in his hands, not putting them back on again.

The hot summer wind dried them by the time they got back to the palace, though they both looked a little worse for wear.  Theta had taken the stuffed animals he had won, calling them ‘trophies of war’ and escorted her to her room. Once outside, though, he’d shut down, and didn’t try to get close to her.  Rose tried not to be offended by that. 

Once he was gone she knocked on Donna’s door. “We need to talk.”

Within five minutes she was spilling her guts to Martha and Donna, holding the little pink wolf in her lap as they all sat on the floor, Rose sitting on a bath towel.  Martha’s brow was furrowed in concentration, and Donna looked a bit like she might explode from trying not to laugh.

“Are you kidding?” She asked.

“About what?” Rose asked.

“About  _ anything  _ you’ve said?” Donna laughed.  “Rose, it is so obvious that Prince Theta has a bit of a thing for you.”

“He certainly doesn’t hate you,” Martha said.  “He gave you a present and called it a truce.” She tugged the stuffed wolf’s ear. “That means something, at least.”

Rose sighed.  “He can’t have a thing for me.  First of all, it’s so inappropriate.  Second, I’d be leaving next month. I don’t want to get into anything and have it be over so fast.”

“I get that,” Martha said, nodding slowly.  “But you had… Fun today, at least?”

Rose smiled.  “Yeah,” She admitted. “Except for the parts where he was being annoying.  Yeah, I did.”

“Oof, love, all men are annoying,” Donna said, climbing to her feet.  “That doesn’t change whether they’re royal or not.”

They all nodded solemnly and Rose left to shower and get ready to go to bed.  When she was finished, she decided to at least import the pictures from her camera.  The photos of Theta at the carnival were absolutely beautiful, and she was struck with the inspiration to write.  

TItling the piece “a Day with the Prince” seemed just cheesy enough to sell and she was launching into a story about him, minus the parts where he was rude or irritating, and attached the photo she took of him winning the game, along with a couple others she’d caught of him during the day.

_ “Prince Theta is far more than your average royal,”  _ she wrote,  _ “And I think he should be allowed to travel and experience life more.  Just taking him out to the beach absolutely lit him up, and he deserves to be that happy as much as it pleases him.” _

She sat back, wondering when all of this had gotten so complicated.  The pictures she’d taken drew her in, as they painted Theta as approachable and likable.  Well, that was how she was supposed to paint him. So it worked out… But she wondered how it would all turn out, in the end.  He couldn’t hide his nasty side from the press forever, could he? Or was that the side he hid from them on purpose?

Blowing her cheeks out, she forwarded the draft to Sarah Jane for approval, promising a better  hashed out copy in the morning, and crawled into bed, holding the little pink wolf that the Prince had won for her. 

It felt silly, and she felt a little childish, being so attached to a toy, but the last time a boy had bought anything for her, it had been Valentine’s day and he’d felt like he’d ‘had to’.  So, truce or not, it was the first present she’d received in a long while.

Drawing it close to her chest and trying to think about anything but Theta, the activity of the day wore her out and she fell quickly and easily to sleep. 


	8. Chapter 8

Rose woke up with a sense of purpose, knowing that no matter what confusing feelings she was having for the Prince, she couldn’t do anything about it.  He was a Prince, first of all, and clearly didn’t know how to have a real relationship. Not that he’d be having a relationship with her, that is. 

If anything, she would have a fling with him, and Rose knew that she wouldn’t be able to handle that.  

She rolled over to see the little pink wolf laying on the other side of the bed, and it seemed to be staring at her.  She frowned at it. “Don’t you look at me like that.”

A knock at her door made Rose groan and sit up.  “Who is it?”

“It’s Jack, breakfast in a half hour!”  Jack’s voice was far too cheerful for the morning and the heaviness of Rose’s thoughts.  Despite it all, she laughed. 

“Okay.  I’ll be down.”

“Did you and the Prince have fun yesterday?” Jack called through the door. 

Rose got out of bed and looked to the door, debating on if she should open it and speak to Jack face to face or not.  Deciding she didn’t want anyone listening in on the conversation, she hurried to the door and opened it, peeking around the door so that she wasn’t standing in the hallway in her pajamas.

“I think so,” She said, “He’s still a bit impossible.”

“Well, yes, that’s not going to go away.”  Jack laughed. “Where’d you take him?”

Rose squinted at Jack. “The shops and the fair on the pier.  Why, did he talk to you?”

“He mentioned he’d been out late.  His clothes were wet.”

Rose scowled, remembering what he’d done in the water.  “Well, he pushed me into the waves when we were walking back and decided that it would be a fine time for a swim.”

Jack laughed.  “Well, it sure  _ sounds  _ like fun.  I thought he might make a move on you.”

She blushed, knowing she shouldn’t share that particular bit of information . “No.  No, not at all. Is… is the King angry that we were out so late?”

“The King was none the wiser, he was in bed by eight,” Jack said.  “I’ll let you get ready for breakfast then, but don’t worry. You’re not in trouble.”

Rose blew out a sigh and nodded. “Alright.  Thanks, Jack.”

He left, then, and Rose quickly dressed in a blue dress with short sleeves and a high neck before styling her hair and putting light makeup on.  It wasn’t until then that she noticed the light bruising on her neck. She slapped her hand over the spot and her jaw dropped. Had Jack seen? Had Donna and Martha?  She had a feeling it was too dark for Martha or Donna to have seen, but Jack had almost definitely seen. 

She absolutely slathered concealer over the spots, silently cursing Theta for not being careful. It had all just been a ruse, after all, so why would he leave marks on her?  She had to chock it up to him just being stupid and not paying attention. She could slap him, and she just might, if the King wasn’t around.

It was covered quickly since it was so light, but Rose was  still stewing by the time she got downstairs. She met up with Martha on the way, who looked delightfully unburdened. 

“Did you sleep okay?” She asked, touching Rose’s arm.  
“Yeah,” Rose nodded, “I did. You?”

“Yes, but I was asking because you seemed so worked up last night,” Martha laughed a little. “With the Prince and everything.”

Rose regarded Martha for a few minutes. “Yeah,” she said, “Okay, did you see my neck when I came to the room?”

Martha’s eyes widened and she smiled. “What? Rose, you didn’t- with the  _ Prince?” _

“I didn’t!” Rose cried out, “Okay, listen.  We ended up having to run from some crazy Prince Theta fans and he pulled me into an alley, and-” She stopped, blushing. “He kept us from getting noticed.”

“By giving you a hickey?”

“I didn’t think he would give me a hickey, I didn’t think he’d leave a mark,” she blew out her cheeks. “I didn’t think that any of this would happen, and now I don’t even know what to say to him today.”

Martha seemed thoughtful for a moment.  “Well, I don’t think  _ he’ll  _ say anything about it, so you’re probably safe there,” She said, “Just don’t be weird.”

Rose nodded. “Yeah.  Yeah, you’re right, I’m probably worrying about nothing.”

“Maybe so.  Come on, let’s just go have breakfast and see what the plan for today is.”  She smiled at Rose, obviously trying to ease her nerves, and Rose was able to offer a smile back and mean it a little bit.  

Jack and The King were already in the dining room when Rose and Martha entered, and they dropped into curtsies quickly.  

“Oh, none of that,” The King stood and came over to say hello.  “I don’t want you to curtsy any more, it’s alright. Besides, I won’t be King for much longer anyway.”

Rose smiled.  “Thank you, but I think you’ll always be the King to your people, your majesty.”

They all sat down as breakfast was served and Donna entered later, apologizing profusely for being late.  Jack laughed. “It’s alright, Prince Theta is later.”

“Well, I suppose the adventure that Miss Tyler took him on really tired him out,” The King said, smiling to Rose. “I was hoping to ask the two of you about it, but since he isn’t here I”ll just ask you.”

Rose smiled and looked down at her plate. “Yeah, of course.  Well, since we’re writing articles all throughout the month, I was hoping to capture the more human side of Prince Theta, and not just what the media sees.  So, I thought I’d take him around to tourist-y places that he’d never seen before.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” The King said, “The royal family doesn’t get out much, I will admit, so I am thrilled that he agreed to go with you.”

Rose nodded, and debated with herself in her head for a moment before admitting, “Prince Theta expressed some interest in traveling, but thought he probably wouldn’t be able to once he becomes king.”

The King looked a little saddened by that. “Oh.  I didn’t know that. I will very much look into travel options for him as he takes over the throne.  Thank you for telling me.”

“I didn’t mean to get involved in your family business,” Rose said, suddenly worried.

“No, no, don’t look at me like that,” The King laughed. “I’m just very happy he told someone.  My dear son doesn’t talk to many people, I’m afraid.’  
Rose blushed and looked away, only to find Jack waggling his eyebrows at her.  She pursed her lips, trying not to smile, and looked down at her plate. She didn’t want to think about the fact that the Prince had confided in her, regardless of the honor that it was. 

Just then, the subject of their conversation saw fit to burst through the door, wearing slightly more formal clothes than what he had worn yesterday, and he looked quite refreshed. “Good morning, everyone,” he said, sitting down next to Jack. 

“Good morning, your highness,” Was the collective reply, though Rose was a bit more mumbled.

“Miss Tyler was just telling us about your exciting day yesterday,” the King told him.

Theta’s smug attitude was back firmly in place, and he smirked at Rose. “Is that so?”

“We found out that he’s exceptional at carnival games,” Rose said, rushing it all out before he could say anything to incriminate either of them.  Theta winked at her but said nothing, only took a sip of the juice that sat in front of him. 

After breakfast, the King said that they could do whatever they wished about the castle, but he was feeling rather poorly. Rose saw a flicker of concern on Theta’s face, and he offered to go with his father, but the King shook his head. 

“No, no, you enjoy your day.  I’m just... Tired.”

Rose had a feeling that the strain of being a royal had been just too much for him.  Some people weren't meant to be royalty. That’s what her mum always said about certain members of the British royal family, anyway.  The King left the room, leaving all the younger people together with 

Jack offered to show anyone to any part of the castle, but Rose got to her feet.  “I think I want to go read in the library for a bit. Rest my feet a little after yesterday.”

“I’ll go with you,” Theta said, standing slowly. 

“I’d like to see the library too,” Donna said, much to Rose’s relief.  She wasn’t sure she was ready to be alone with Theta again after the tension that had been traveling between them last night.  She looked to Theta, daring him to argue. Based on the look on his face, he was about to, but glanced at Rose. Upon seeing her expression, his own face relaxed and he turned to Donna.

Martha went with Jack to the lab that he’d mentioned, one that Theta had used for his studies.  She had her doctorate as well as a degree in English, so to say that she was brilliant was a gross understatement.

“So, what do you say?” Donna asked once they’d gone. “Can I come with you to the library.

“Yes, that’d be… Lovely,” Theta said, though it was terribly forced.  Donna looked to Rose and winked, and Rose breathed out a sigh of relief.  

Donna chatted along with Theta all the way up, though he was obviously irritated to be talking with her as well as Rose.  It was clear that he had thought they would be alone, and Rose wasn’t sure if she should be flattered by that or not. While she did want to talk to him about… Certain things, she wasn’t sure if it was appropriate, or would work out at all.  She had a feeling he’d just be insufferable about the whole thing.

Donna was just as infatuated as Rose was with the library, so the other woman quickly disappeared into the stacks, forgetting all about the fact that she was supposed to be protecting Rose.  Not that it was her  _ job,  _ Rose reminded herself.

“So, what’s all the makeup on your neck for?” Theta asked, sitting on one of the library’s couches, absolutely  _ lounging.   _

Rose swallowed. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You didn’t cover your whole neck with it, just the parts with whatever you were trying to hide. So-”

“You left a mark on me,” Rose blurted out, unable to look at him as she said it.  There was a silence between them that was absolutely palpable, and Rose felt her cheeks all but light on fire. 

“I… I did?”

“Yes,” Rose said, “So I was trying to cover it up so your father didn’t think that anything happened.”

“Right.  I suppose that was the right thing to do,” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t want him to… Suspect.”  He looked over at her, and smiled a little. “But I don’t think that you can pretend you didn’t enjoy it.”

Rose swallowed. “Is now really the time to be coming onto me?”

“I don’t see why not. I can tell that you want me to.  And you wanted me last night.”

Rose crossed her arms over her chest.  “You were so nice yesterday. Almost a decent human being. So why… Why are you acting like this now?”

He tilted his head back, regarding her though hooded eyes. “This is the only way I know how to be, Miss Tyler.”

She rolled her eyes and went back towards a bookshelf full of fantasy novels.  After choosing one, nearly at random since she could feel him looking at her, she sat down on the couch across from him, not wanting to sit too close to him.  

“By the way, your dad said that he would try to look for a way for you to travel and still be King,” Rose said, flipping to the first page in the book.

“You told him about that?”

“Yeah.”

“Uh… Thanks.”

She wanted to reply, but Donna came back out shortly after, chatting about the sheer magnitude of the library, but Theta’s attention was on Rose.  His focus told her that they weren’t done with this conversation.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoy! This chapter was a little difficult because of the way their relationship is structured, but I hope you all still enjoy it!

 

The day passed quickly, mostly because Theta got tired of being ignored by Rose and left the room, leaving Donna and Rose to all the books.  Rose felt a bit guilty about the whole thing, since the whole plan was for the library to be her ‘gift’ from him. She’d apologize to him later, she decided, even if he wouldn’t apologize to her.

She took a couple books back with her in the afternoon, hoping to hoard them until she was done reading them.  After a bit more reading she finalized her article about the ‘real’ Theta, who she wasn’t even sure she knew, after today. Last night, she had been so sure that he was a good person, someone gentle and kind.  But… maybe not. 

She found herself staring at the photo of him that she’d taken, the night surrounding him, the lights in the fair shining on his face, making his eyes sparkle.  She leaned her chin in her hand. It wasn’t fair that he was so beautiful, and when he smiled a genuine smile, he was even more so. 

“ _ I do believe that Prince Theta will make an excellent King to his people,”  _ Rose wrote, carefully choosing every word.  “ _ Because he cares.  But I hope to find out more over the course of this month.” _

She sat back in her chair, staring at her computer screen, until she heard a knock at her door.  Assuming it was Jack with the call for lunch, she went to open the door, only to see Prince Theta there.  

“Your highness,” She said, surprised by his appearance and his chagrined expression.  

“I feel as though I should apologize to you.”  

Rose frowned and looked around outside of the room, pushing him out of the way in the process. 

“What- what are you looking for?” Theta asked, furrowing his brows and frowning at her.  

“Jack. Don’t think you’d apologize without him.”

“Woman, you don’t know me at all,” he said, his voice dark. “I’m about to be King of a country, I’m responsible.  I have to be. So I am apologizing to you.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, stepping back towards the room.  “Well, what are you apologizing for?”

He huffed, clearly annoyed by the whole thing.  “I’m sorry for being brash with you.”

“Apology accepted.”

“Ah, you have the wolf I gave you,” he said, seeming a bit proud about that.  He smiled at her. 

“You’re terrible,” She said, “Even when you come to apologize to me, you’re trying to get me to admit to something.”

“Why? Do you have something to admit to?”

Rose rolled her eyes and went back to her desk.  “You really are like no one I’ve ever met.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said, entering the room and shutting her door behind him. Rose looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow in question, but said nothing about it.  Nothing about him made her feel unsafe, she was only confused.

He walked to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. “What are you working on?”

“A piece about you.  You know, my  _ job. _ ”

“Can I read it?”

She pulled her laptop down.  “No!” She swallowed hard and spun around in her chair, facing him.  “It’s about you, and besides that, it’s not published. So technically, you can’t read it.”

He squinted at her and darted off the bed, lunging at her.  She jumped to her feet and caught him by his upper arms. His hands landed on her waist. “Hey, I’m going to get to read it anyway, why does it matter?”

She laughed and pushed him. “I’m embarrassed.  I said  _ nice things  _ about you, your highness.”

“Oh, now I have to read it!”  He reached around her and Rose reached behind herself to smack her laptop so it was now all the way shut.  Since Theta was leaning so heavily on her as he reached, he tumbled into her slightly, pinning her to the desk.  Rose reached up and set her hands on his shoulders, just hanging onto him. 

“Sorry,” she said, not sure why she was the one apologizing.

His eyes were focused firmly fixed on her lips. “It’s alright.”

She stumbled a bit, just from the angle that she was at, and her knees spread, allowing Theta even closer to her.  She could push him away, she  _ could,  _ and she knew that above all, she probably should.  But he was intoxicating up close, and he was just so gentle in his hold on her waist.  

“Miss Tyler-”

“Just do it before I tell you to stop.”

He bent down to kiss her, not needing to be told twice, and Rose felt like exploding right then and there.  She’d been kissed before, but never like this, and after the way his mouth was moving against hers, she thought she might not want to kiss anyone else ever again.  

He lifted her behind the knees, settling her firmly on the desk.  She wrapped her arms around his neck, shoving one hand into his frankly magnificent hair.  He groaned at the movement and moved even closer to her. He pulled away slowly, breaking the kiss, and pressed his forehead to hers. 

“Finally willing to admit that you think I’m attractive?” He asked, and though she couldn't believe he was still being smug, she couldn’t stop herself from nodding 

“Yeah,” She said breathlessly, and tugged on the back of his hair.  “You want to admit that you think I’m attractive?”

He leaned down and kissed her neck on the side he hadn't already marked. “You’re beautiful, but you knew that.”

She tilted her head back, eyes falling shut again. She bit her lip to keep herself from saying his name, still not sure if that was appropriate, even in their situation.  She gripped at the back of his shirt and his hair, wanting to kiss him but also not wanting to move him from her neck. 

Realizing he might leave a mark again, she wrenched him away from her neck and took his mouth before she could think about it.  He fell into her easily, practically  _ melted  _ into her, and she felt an odd feeling of power surge through her.  This man was nearly supplicant at her feet, even though he was so cocky outside, she had to wonder if there was someone softer hidden underneath that facade.

He moaned against her mouth, a sound she’d like to hear again, repeatedly, and grabbed her hip with one hand, grinding her against him.  It was absolute bliss, and she saw white for a moment until he stopped. His hand moved away from her hip, as though he couldn’t stand it either.  He carded his hand through her hair, gripping it at the base of her neck as though grounding himself.

One of his hands slipped underneath her shirt and started fiddling with the clasp on her bra, and it was like a bucket of water was dumped over her.  They couldn’t  _ do  _ this.  He moved closer to her and opened his mouth wider over hers, letting her in even further.  It made her feel strangely guilty to tell him to stop, mostly because she wanted him to keep going. She pushed him lightly and he took the hint, releasing her and stepping back.  Confusion and hurt marred his face, and she instantly felt guilty.

“We can’t do this,” She said softly. “We can’t.”

“Why not?” He asked. “Did I do something wrong?” 

“No!  No, you’re… No.  It’s not you,” she assured him.  “I just- I’m leaving, in under a month, and I don’t do flings.  Besides, you’re a bloody prince, about to be the King, and you probably don’t even like me-”

“I  _ do  _ like you,” He said, frowning. “You took me to that carnival, and you tried to think about things I would like.  You let me fool around in the water with you… I appreciated all of that.”

“And then you turn around and act stupid today, what’s that all about?”  She slid off the desk. “I thought you were different today.”

He frowned.  “I don’t mean to be.  I’ve never been held to expectations, social expectations.”

She blew out her cheeks.  “I know.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Rose shook her head. “I wish we could. But- I can’t do this with you and then leave.”

He sniffed, looking away from her. “I understand.”

“Besides,” She said slowly, “You don’t have real feelings for me or anything, it’s just passion, and like you said, appreciation, that’s all.”  She looked down at her hands, mostly trying to convince herself, now. “I don’t think that’s necessarily a  _ bad  _ thing, but-”

“Miss Tyler,” he cut her off. “I understand.  I do.” He stood a little straighter, and looked her in the eye again.  “I won’t bother you with these… Feelings anymore.” He looked conflicted, and she cocked her head, regarding him closely. 

“What do you mean?” She asked softly. It would make it so much harder if he had honest, true feelings for her, if he had turned this corner because he actually did care for her.  But why would he act so callous if that was the case?  
Men were bloody confusing, she decided.

“I-” he clenched his jaw and looked away from her again. “I’m intrigued by you,” he said, “You are fascinating, and put me in my place like no one I’ve ever met.  I always think the banter we have is… Entertaining.”

“Banter?  You think it’s banter?”

“Is it not?”

“I thought you hated me!”

He scratched the side of his nose. “Oh.  Well, that’s not what I meant at all. I promise.  I was flirting with you.”

‘You’re so confusing.”

“I’m confusing?? You were letting me kiss you, Rose, and now I’m not quite sure what I’ve done wrong.  I’d very much like to know, though.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, you must know you’re a brilliant kisser,” Rose snapped, wrapping her arms around herself, protecting herself from his gaze.  

She wanted this, but there was no way they could have it.  Wasn’t that clear enough to him? Realizing she was going to have to spell it out, she took a deep breath.  “Your highness, I’d like very much to have you, repeatedly, but it’s not a good idea. I’m not going to get attached to you and then have you and I forcibly part ways.”

He scratched his cheek, looking at her with a sort of puzzlement.  “So… I was okay at the snogging?”  
She rolled her eyes. “You are such a bloke.”

“Thank you.” 

She sagged a little. “You understand though, don’t you? Why it has to be this way?”

He shook his head. “No, because if it were up to me, we’d enjoy whatever we could have of each other until you had to leave Gallifrey.  But you thought all this time that I hated you.” He shook his head. “Maybe I need to work on dealing with my emotions, but I certainly wasn’t expecting to be shot down by you.”

“I didn’t shoot you down,” she returned weakly.  “That’s not what this is.”

“No, it’s fine,” he said, his voice suddenly soft.  “I’ll maintain friendliness with you, Miss Tyler, but I promise I won’t shove any more advances at you.”  He looked away from her. “Besides. I should be focusing on my coronation duties anyway.”

He left the room then, not waiting for her to speak, but if he had, what would she say?  She couldn’t change her mind, not after she’d been so firm with him. And he didn’t deserve her flipping her choices like that on him anyway.  

She battled with her emotions for several minutes, leaning against the desk.   _ He’d  _ had feelings for  _ her  _ this whole time?  That very thought was quite jarring to her, and she couldn’t quite understand what was going on there.  She thought boys were only meant to be so confusing in primary school, and that they sorted themselves out as they got older.

Evidently, that was not the case.

She moved to run to him several different times, to tackle him to the ground and let the physical part of her take over, but she knew she’d never forgive herself if she did that.  She wasn’t sure he’d forgive her either. 

It would ruin her writing, make her biased, and she was too good a journalist to let that happen. She’d write him like a god, because she’d certainly see him that way if he made love as good as he snogged. 

Blowing out her cheeks, she dialled her mobile, hoping to get in touch with Sarah Jane.  They were close, Rose reminded herself, and she wouldn't mind Rose coming to her with something personal.  As long as it wouldn’t affect her writing, she’d be fine. 

But it would still make her burn inside when she saw him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .............................Sorry. It'll get better, I promise.


	10. Chapter 10

Theta was serious when he’d said that he was going to take his coronation responsibilities more seriously.  Rose didn’t see him for days, and when she submitted her piece on the ‘real’ Prince Theta, it was with a heavy heart.  Sarah Jane reassured her, said it was truly good, but Rose wasn’t so sure anymore. She felt she might be have been a bit too flowery in her description of him.  

Sarah Jane had told her that everything was alright, that even though she’d compromised her position, she hadn’t done anything to jeopardize her employment or the assignment she had been given.  Rose herself was skeptical about the whole thing, and was feeling guilty for letting things escalate with Theta.

They only saw each other at mealtimes, and he was polite the whole time, but nothing else.  There was no more teasing, no winking at her or smug looks. It was a difficult adjustment, but one she had to make.

“Why are things so weird between you and the Prince?” Martha asked, one day when the three journalists were comparing notes and swimming in the castle pool.  It was an indoor pool that was decorated extremely lavishly, and the three of them had been enjoying it immensely. 

“Because we kissed,” Rose said, still floating aimlessly in her blue inner tube.  Might as well tell the truth, she thought, there was nothing to hide,and nothing she had to be ashamed of.

“You  _ what?”  _ Donna shrieked.

“Yeah, I mean, it kind of escalated, and I told him we couldn’t be doing anything like that since I was going to leave.”  She sighed, “I feel terrible about it.”

“Do you like him?” Martha asked softly, sticking her fingers in the pool.  

“I don’t know,” Rose admitted, “That’s kind of a loaded question.”

“Well, you guys did seem to have a weird relationship, but I thought he liked you.”

Rose tilted her head back, letting her hair and the back of her head get wet in the water.  “Well, yeah. He admitted to it, actually. Said he thought he was bantering with me, not snapping at me.  We just… Read it all differently.” She blew out her cheeks. “I didn’t mean for it to go as far as it did, and I should’ve stopped him sooner, but it felt… Right.  I’ve never been kissed like that before.”

“Now  _ that  _ is a fairytale,” Martha said, a little dreamily. “Why don’t you… you know, try things?  See how it goes?”

Rose shook her head, wincing when she got water in her ear.  “I couldn’t,” she said softly, “because then I go home, and then what?  I don’t know, I just can’t do flings, I”ve never been able to. I certainly wouldn't with him, knowing how it was all going to end.  I’ll get attached to him.”

“Sounds like you already are,” Donna said, apparently having recovered from her earlier shock.  “The two of you seem perfectly made for each other, with how awkward you’ve been.”

“I can’t,” Rose whined. “I couldn’t do that to either of us, it wouldn't be fair.  I wouldn’t know how to leave him.”

Martha tilted her head at Rose. “That’s really sweet, Rose.  Have you told him that?”

“Yeah.  He didn’t say anything about it not being a fling, so that must be what he wants from me, really.”

“Oh, God, Rose,” Donna rolled her eyes.  “His highness is certainly on the type of man to chat about his feelings.  You’ll have to ask him what he wants. Exactly what he wants. Or else he won’t tell you.”

Rose laughed, a bit self-deprecatingly.  “Can you let me know why all men have to be confusing?” She asked, peering over at Donna.

“If we could tell you, we’d all be happily married by now,” Donna said, and Martha and Rose laughed.

**********

Halfway through the second week that the journalists were there, there was a press conference for Theta to address the concerns of his people.  It was held within the press room of the castle, which Rose didn’t even know existed. She, Donna, and Martha sat in the front row so they could take pictures, but they wouldn’t be asking any questions.  Rose had a recorder sat next to her so she could record whatever was said and refer back to it later.

Since they were allowed anywhere in the castle anyway, Rose slipped back to fetch a glass of water from the lower kitchen. What she didn’t expect was to find Prince Theta there, going over notes at the kitchen table, dressed in his ceremonial military uniform.  She swallowed hard and went to the cupboards to start looking for a glass.

“One over,” came his voice from the table, and she shifted her gaze to the next cupboard over.  Inside were all the drinking glasses, and she took one slowly. 

“Thanks,” She said softly, going to the fridge and filling it up. 

He didn’t say anything, just watched her quietly until she sat across from him, setting her glass in front of her after taking a long drink.  She watched him right back, not sure what to say to him, but knowing that something had to be done. The last time they’d properly spoken, it hadn’t been terribly positive, so she was hoping to change that.

“Are you ready for today?” She asked.  “The room’s really filling up.”

“Is it?” He asked, looking nervous.  “I’m fine, I just don’t like not knowing what questions they’re going to ask me.”

She looked down at her glass. “I think as long as you think about why you’ll make a good King, you’ll be fine.” 

He glanced up at her in surprise.  “You think I’ll be a good king?”

She rolled her eyes. “You know I do, your highness.”

He chuckled under his breath, and looked over his notes again.  Rose noticed that his hands were shaking a bit, and before she could think better of it, reached over and covered them with her own. “Prince Theta, relax,” she said, “You’ll be wonderful.”

“I appreciate your trust in me, Miss Tyler,” he said, “But I’m not sure I’ll do as well as you think I will.”

“Well, if nothing else, you look  _ really  _ nice, and everyone is sure to notice that.”

He huffed out a laugh.  “This is the uniform I’ll wear from now on in official public appearances.  No more suits. Just… Ceremonial garb, even on my wedding day.”

“Britain does that too, the women think it’s sexy.”

“What?”

“A man in uniform, you know.  Girls like that.”

He stared at her for a long moment. “I don’t want girls, Miss Tyler, I believe I’m far beyond that.”

Her breath hitched and she drew her hands back from him. “Then… Then what is it that you want?”

“You know,” he said softly, and got to his feet.  “I think I’d better head up, It wouldn’t do for us to walk in together though, they’ll all think we’re up to something in here.”

Rose thought for a moment, that if things had been different when they had kissed, they probably would be fooling around in here.  He looked absolutely dashing, like a military hero, really. He’d served, every member of the royal family was obligated to, and he was quite decorated.  She thought that maybe he deserved more out of life then whatever he was expected. 

“Well, I do think you look sexy,” She said, winking at him before drinking the rest of her water and putting it in the sink.  

“Don’t tease me, Miss Tyler,” Theta pleaded, looking at her as though he really meant it. Rose swallowed.  Her intent hadn’t really been to tease him, but his eyes absolutely sucked her in, and she was absolutely helpless to stop it. 

“Your highness…”

“A kiss for luck?” He asked her cheerfully, his melancholy mood evaporating into the air. “Nothing else, nothing funny, I promise.  Just that.”

She wanted to say no.  She should’ve said no. but she found herself nodding nd beckoning for him to come closer to her. He did, almost stumbling over his boots, and stood before her,eyes full of affections he didn’t want to assign depth to.

“Just a good luck kiss,” she said, waggling her finger at him.   “Keep your hands at your sides, your highness.”

He obeyed, winking at her, and she rolled her eyes.  Taking as step closer, she framed his face in her hands and gave him a very chaste kiss on the lips before pulling back and smoothing a hand over his shoulder.

“You’ll be fine!” She chirped.  “See you up there.”

She bolted from the room and didn’t check to see if he was behind her.  She was certain he’d follow, and that would be enough.

****

She was seated back next to Martha before Prince Theta took the stage to answer questions from the press. The King gave a short speech, but it was clear that he was fatigued and said speech didn’t last even as long as it was supposed to.  Rose’s heart ached for the poor old man. 

When Theta took the stage, standing at the podium, his hands on either side of it.  “As your future king, I stand before you to address any worries or concerns that you might have.”  He nodded to Donna, Rose, and Martha. “In the front row, I am supposed to inform you, are representatives from other countries who are covering the coronation.  They will not be asking questions.”

Hands shot up immediately, calls of “Prince Theta!” calling from all ends of the room.  Theta swallowed visibly and pointed to one woman near the back.

“Prince Theta, is it true that you’ll be cutting down on your scandalous behavior?”  The woman’s question clearly made him uncomfortable, but he brushed it off.

“I think we were all foolish in our teenage years,” he said, offering her a glare similar to the ones he had given Rose, “And you’ll notice I’ve been out of the papers for some time now. I’m taking my ascent to the throne very seriously, and believe I have atoned for my childhood sins.”  His voice was cold, and Rose winced, knowing that wasn’t going to win the people over to him.

The questions continued, mostly surrounding scandals that Theta had been involved with, women that he’d been spotted with, and the like.  Theta stuttered a bit over them, clearly uncomfortable with the topics, and his eyes kept darting to Rose for help that she couldn’t offer. 

“Prince Theta, will you be taking a Queen when you take the throne?”

Theta breathed out a sigh and smiled. “I should like to.  If there’s any woman who still wants to marry me after everything all of you have asked me about.”

Some of the press laughed, and some had the nerve to look ashamed of themselves.  

“It’s a good thing the King didn’t come,” Donna whispered. “He’d’ve died of a heart attack by now.”

Rose and Martha murmured their assent, but luckily the topic changed for Theta’s past wild behavior to taxes and immigration.  They were topics that he seemed far more familiar with, and must’ve been the notes on his cards that Rose had seen earlier. He fell into a sort of different personality, one that was very capable and knew exactly what he was talking about.  He offered smiles and was very charming, shutting away the nervous boy that had stuttered away his response to a photo of him snogging French royalty when he was eighteen (which Rose thought was ignorant to bring up to begin with).

By the time the press conference was over, Theta was sweating and had ruined and built himself back up several times over.  They’d demolished him, and Rose wondered what the public would think of him after this. It had been broadcast on television, she was told, and she wasn't at all surprised by that. 

Blowing out her cheeks, Rose turned to Donna.  “Ouch,” She whispered as Theta left the stage, two bodyguards behind him.

“You’re not kidding,” Donna said, “I feel awful for him.”

“I think you should go talk to him, Rose,” Martha said softly.  “He can’t talk to his dad about this, and he trusts you. Maybe you can work through it with him.”

Rose nodded. “I know,” she said softly, “But I can’t… He’ll probably want comfort, and I can’t-”

“Then tell him that,” Martha urged. “I just think it’s best if he’s not alone right now.  For all the good he did here, he’ll probably consider the bad parts a failure.”

Rose had to admit that that was true.  “I don’t know where to find him.”

Donna shrugged. “Where does he think he’ll find you?  You know, if he were to go looking?”  
At first, Rose wasn’t sure, since they were so studiously avoiding each other.  She sighed and looked down at her lap before it all clicked. 

“The library.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might have to add a 'secret relationship' tag to this, wink wink. 
> 
> Hope this makes up for such a long break!

Rose entered the library slowly, almost expecting that she wouldn’t find Theta there, but he sat on the couch, still in uniform, reading a book.  She blinked at the surprisingly calm image that he presented before her. 

“Um.  Hi,” She said softly, “Donna and Martha said I should probably come and find you.”

He looked up at her, his eyes full of sadness that she had never seen in him before.  He huffed out a laugh. “I don’t know why you’d want to come talk to a failure.”

“Your highness, that was hardly a failure,” she said, frowning at him.

“I shouldn’t have done all those stupid things when I was younger, didn’t think that those things would come back to me in the end.”

Rose sat down on the couch next to him, back against the arm of it so that she wasn’t quite so close to him.  “Well, you can go ahead and stop that, because everyone’s pasts come to bite them. It’s just… A little more severe for you.  But you handled it well.”

He set the book down and scrubbed his hands over his face. “No, I didn’t,” he moaned. “I didn’t handle it well at all.  I handled it like a seventeen year old kid trying to explain why he came home late.”

Rose pursed her lips, not sure what to respond to cheer him up, and not sure that she could.  “I don’t think that’s what it sounded like,” she said softly. “You did well. I thought they’d be asking you about  _ normal  _ things, not…  About your past.  I think every young royal has done stupid things.”

“Oh, thanks,” he said, frowning at her.  “The point is, I should’ve been more careful.  I’ve always known I was going to be King, it’s about time I started acting like it.”

“You are acting like it,” Rose said, “I’ve seen the way you’ve been acting. You’ve been handling it very well.”

“That’s nice of you to say, Miss Tyler, but I messed up, and that’s on me.  And then they asked when I would be taking a wife, and… I don’t know. I don’t know how to respond to any of that.”

“You’ll learn,” Rose said, “That’s the mark of a great King, I think.  In a way. Dunno, England has a queen.”

Theta laughed at that, which had been her intention, and she smiled at him.  “Just don’t be too hard on yourself,” She said softly, “You’re still new to this. You’re not on the throne yet.”

“I know,” he said, “But I don’t want to disappoint my father.”

Rose drew her feet up under her and sighed.  “I don’t think he could ever be upset with you, your highness.  Not in the ways you think at least.”

He was watching her carefully, like she was the only thing in the huge roo worth focusing on.  And for a moment, she almost believed that she was. No one had ever looked at her like that before, and it shook her up a little bit more than she liked to admit.  She swallowed hard. “Your highness?”

“Mm?”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”  

“I-” He stopped and laughed, shaking his head. “You won’t like it.”

She poked him with her foot.  “I don’t like most things,” she teased.  

He tilted his head back against the couch, temple touching the upholstery, but he stayed watching her.  He shook his head. “I don’t know, you just… There’s something about you, Miss Tyler.”

She cocked her head, frowning at him. “Your highness…”

“I know, you say you don’t want any sort of relationship, or- physical engagement.  But I think you underestimate how good we’d be together.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “After all that just happened, you’re trying to hit on me?”

“You’re intoxicating, Miss Tyler, though I’m sure on some level you know that.”  

She blushed, looking away from him.  “You know I would.”

“Me too.”

She wanted to look at him again, to allow his eyes to absolutely devour her, and at this point, she wasn’t sure what was stopping her.  She drew herself into her corner of the couch and he moved closer to her, his eyes soft and open, regarding her with a careful gaze. 

She wanted this. She wanted him.  Any way she could have him, if she was honest.  She pushed one of her legs out, shoving it behind his back and bracing her back against the arm of the couch.  It was a blatant invitation and she knew it, locking her eyes on him and waiting for him to do something. It had to be in his hands.  She’d given him permission last time, and she wasn’t doing that this time. She regarded him with what she knew was defiance, and a dare.  She knew he wouldn’t be able to turn down a dare.

He leaned towards her, bracing one hand on the couch next to her leg, shifting so he was facing her more.  “Rose…”

“I think you’ll be a great King,” she rushed out, “And I’m sure this preference is not the end of everything.  Really.”

He searched her eyes carefully.  “You really think so?”

“I really think so,” she whispered.  

He moved closer to her, the rustling of his ceremonial clothing making Rose’s ears prick.  She swallowed hard, not letting her eyes leave his as he continued to look at her, moving towards her carefully.

“There’s something between us, and I think we should focus on that for as long as we have,” Theta said softly, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic.”

“I never would’ve guessed, with those photos of you with all those women in the press,” Rose said, a bit sarcastically, smiling at him.

He winked at her.  “Lucky for us, photos like that haven’t surfaced in years.”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

His eyes lowered, fixating on her lips.  “Is it?” 

He was close enough now to reach up to touch his hair, sliding her fingers through the thick strands.  His eyes shot back up to her own, watching her carefully, and she knew he wanted her to be sure this time. She nodded, silently telling him that she wasn’t going away this time, that this was it.

“You know, this wasn’t why I came in here,” she said as he shifted closer to her, pushing one of her legs to the side so he was settling between them. “I was coming to comfort you, encourage you.”

“You’re definitely doing that.”

She thumped him on the chest with her free hand. “Shut it,” she murmured, though she didn’t take her hands from him.  He moved even closer until her knees were bracketing his hips. She curled her hand into the back of his neck, watching him carefully.  

“You’re gonna mess up your ceremonial clothes,” she said.

“I really do believe you’re worth it,” he said, and with that, leaned forward and kissed her.  She sighed against his lips, realizing that she had been desperately missing his touch in the days they’d been apart.  He was bracing himself up over her, so his hands weren’t on her, but it was enough. 

She pulled on his neck, forcing him to half collapse on top of her.  He reached down with one hand and drew her knee up over his hip as he opened his mouth over hers.  

After just a few moments, he pulled away, though, and stared down at her, breathing heavily.  “Are you sure? I don’t want to start this just for you to run-”

She pulled him down again, kissing him deeply and without any hesitation that she might have been feeling before.  She wrapped her arms all the way around his neck, holding onto him just in case he decided he wanted to be the one to leave this time, to decide it was a bad idea that they do this. 

As he slid one hand underneath her top, though, she suddenly doubted he’d have an issue with it at all.  

Things progressed quicker than Rose had anticipated, and soon he was rocking against her and kissing her as though he had to get his oxygen directly from her.  He moved on to her jaw line, kissing and licking his way along it. 

“Your highness,” she said softly, tugging on his hair. 

He chuckled and lifted his head from the underside of her jaw.  “Yes?”

“No marks.”

“Ah. Well, if it means anything to you, I would very much like to give you a hickey.”

“Wanker.”

“Thank you.”  He kissed the tip of her nose.  “Besides that, call me Theta. I can’t have you calling me ‘your highness’ right now.”

“I guess not,” she said, and he nudged his nose against hers in response, a bit teasing. 

“Go on,” he whispered. “Say it.”

She felt a thrill run down her back.  “Theta,” she whispered, loving the way it sounded and felt on her tongue.  His eyes darkened. 

“Rose,” he replied, and dipped his head to kiss her again.  She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing in on the way he felt above her, his hand clenching underneath her knee, his breath touching her lips with every parting and meeting of their mouths.  

Voices outside the door caused him to rocket off of her, standing by the couch and tugging his clothing back in order.  Rose sat up, smoothing her hair down and glancing towards the door. However, no one came in, and Theta and Rose glanced at each other, both of them breathing heavily.  

“Come with me to my quarters.”

“It’s the middle of the day.”

“And?”

She sniffed. “Fair enough.”  

He led her back to his quarters, which seemed less impressive now that she’d been in it before.  He drew the curtains shut and turned back to her, stroking her hair back from her face with a motion so tender she wasn’t sure what to think.

“You are so beautiful,” he said softly, his eyes showing just how much he had grown to care for her.  She wasn’t even sure when it had happened, but it was something so beautiful that she reached forwards and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burrowing her face in his chest.  

He sighed softly and wrapped his arms back around her, kissing the top of her head.  He rubbed a hand up and down her back, holding her close. “I read your story about me,” he said softly.  “I never got the chance to tell you.”

She swallowed, shutting her eyes and inhaling him.  “What did you think about it?” She asked softly. “I really want to hear your honest opinion.”

He smiled against the top of her head.  “Well… I think you should know, then, that I thought it was wonderful. You’re an incredible writer, Rose.  And you said such lovely things and took such lovely pictures. I think you gave me far more credit then I’d given you at the time.”

“You really liked it?”

“I really did.”  he tucked some of her hair back behind her ear and turned to look her in the eye. “I’d also very much like to kiss you again.”

She swallowed hard, and nodded.  “I’d like for you to kiss me again.”

He obliged, pushing her backwards towards his bed as he did so.  She wasn’t sure how to go about disrobing him from his ceremonial garb, so once he pushed her back onto the bed, she pulled her t-shirt up over her head, and looked at him expectantly.  

He took the hint, unbuttoning the brass buttons on the front of his uniform and laying it flat on his desk. She giggled a little at that movement, and he frowned at her.  

“Come on, I have to keep it nice,” he said, removing his trousers and folding them before crawling on top of her.  She welcomed him with open arms and pressed open mouth kisses to his neck, letting heat wash over her as he moaned softly into her ear.  He reached down and attacked the skirt she was wearing, ripping it off of her. “You really do dress up every day you’re here.”

“Well, I’m a guest of the royal family, and- oh!” She cried out as he threw her leg over his shoulder and pressed closer to her, his hand moving between her legs.  

His eyes searched hers, and Rose found herself falling into his eyes.  He was absolutely beautiful, and she saw that this man was the most sincere she had ever seen in her life.  

“I don’t want to leave,” She blurted out.  

“Then don’t,” he growled, leaning down and biting her clavicle.  She reached down and grabbed the vest top he was still wearing it, pulling it up and over his head.  He shook the shirt off of himself and tossed it to the floor, moving to brace himself above her on both hands.  “Stay with me.”

She didn’t want to talk about that anymore, and cupped his cheeks, pulling him into a searing kiss that made them tear at each other’s undergarments until they were both completely naked. Theta pressed kisses down her face to her chest, being careful not to leave any marks on her.  She found herself wishing that she could. 

Rose shook herself.  Enough thinking. This was about now, about them, about how close he was to her.  She reached down and touched him, shutting the rest of her mind off as they fell into each other. 

The rest would come later. 


	12. Chapter 12

 

Rose didn’t expect to fall asleep after her tumble with the Prince, but it seemed that she was more tired than she’d thought.  As a result, she woke up with her head pillowed on his chest, her arms wrapped tightly around him. His fingers were sifting through her hair, so he was obviously awake.  

“Sorry,” She said softly, “I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”

“You must’ve needed a nap,” he replied, his voice gravelly. “It’s alright.”  

She propped herself up and looked down at him.  “You look rested too.”

He scrunched his nose up at her. “I may have caught a nap as well.”  He tugged her hair, pulling her down into a soft kiss. She smiled against his mouth for a few moments before pulling back and looking him in the eye. 

“Did I tire you out, your highness?” She teased, running her hand along his chest.

“Mm,” his eyes fluttered closed and he tugged on her shoulder, pulling her against him again.  “I think you might have.”

She listened to his heart beating steadily under her ear, and found it oddly reassuring.  It had been ages since she’d been this close to someone, and even then, she was certain it hadn’t felt this good.  

“What are you thinking?” He asked after a while, his hand sifting through her hair once more.  Her eyes fluttered shut at the motion, feeling even more relaxed as he touched her. 

“I’m thinking about how nice this is,” she said softly, and it was the truth.  He laughed a little. 

“Me too,” he whispered.

They couldn’t stay in bed all day, but such a weight was lifted from Rose simply because they weren’t fighting anymore.  There was no strain, and they knew exactly what they wanted from one another. 

He gave her a kiss before they got out of bed, and they got dressed in silence, Rose in the clothes she’d come to his room in, Theta in fresh casual clothes from his wardrobe.  She smoothed her hands down his t-shirt when he changed. 

“You’re beautiful,” she murmured, tugging him closer to her.  He smiled and kissed the top of her head. 

“Thank you.  You are too, you know.” 

“Mm,” she cuddled against his chest, just wanting to hold him for a bit.  It was nice, to be so close to someone. 

“You gonna write an article about this?” He asked, puffing up slightly with pride.  Rose laughed and thumped him on the chest. 

“Obviously not,’ She said, “Might be better off writing about how pompous you are.”  He laughed a little and Rose decided to be a bit more honest. “But I will be writing about how you handled the press conference.”

He grimaced as she pulled away, and she could tell that he was feeling terribly embarrassed about the whole thing.  She raised her eyebrows at him. “No, really, Theta, you did a wonderful job. With all the stuff they threw at you?  You were amazing.”

“I like the way you say my name.” He was just changing the subject, and she knew it.  

“That’s what you took from what I just said?”  
“I took other stuff from it too.”  
It was much easier now, Rose had to acknowledge, to speak to him now that everything had been confessed between them. There were things that she still wished she could tell him, but it wasn’t the right time, and she couldn’t tell him certain things when she would be leaving soon.  All of a sudden, it seemed sooner then it was. 

Martha arched an eyebrow at Rose over dinner, and Rose gave her a significant look, telling her in no uncertain terms that they’d be talking about it later.  But, dinner was quite nice, the King was animated, as he hadn’t seen the whole press conference with Theta yet. Rose wondered what his reaction would be to it.  

Theta kept looking at Rose all throughout dinner, smouldering glances that she thought might make her launch across the table at him.  He was being far more flirty than he’d been before, clearly feeling more comfortable. She smiled a little but looked down at her plate, not wanting to appear too obvious.

After dinner, they bid the King goodnight and Jack watched Rose suspiciously but shrugged it off, leaving the room and leaving his thoughts behind as well.  Jack, being Jack, had other, more scandalous things to do.

“Can I see you for a moment, Miss Tyler?” Theta asked as they were leaving, and Martha and Donna exchanged a look, and went to lay in wait for Rose.  

Rose stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Theta.  He smiled at her and she went with him, wondering what sort of surprise he had in store.  Once they were out of view of everyone, he took her hand and led her down a couple hallways that she’d never been down before.  

“Where are we going?” She asked. 

“I’m showing you something nice,” he told her, and led her up a set of back stairs that were old, rickety, and made her very nervous.  They finally reached a plain wood door that looked like it had aged quite poorly.

“Um.  Theta, what?”  
“The sun has set,” he told her.

“That’s cryptic.  Go on.”

Instead of telling her anything else, he led her into the room, which, she realized upon entering, was an observatory.  There were telescopes and star maps littered around the room, some taped on the walls and the domed ceiling. There were several skylights that the night sky came through, and stars peeked in from above.

“Oh,” Rose breathed out, releasing his hand and stepping further into the room. “This is beautiful.”  
“This is my most secret possession,” he told her,  “My dad is the only person who knows about this place.  Not even Jack knows.”

She turned to him, furrowing her brows. “So why are you showing me?  Why now?”

“Because you’re special,” he said simply, “And I want to look at the stars with you.”

It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to her, and she looked at him with her heart in her eyes.  Walking towards him, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “That’s lovely,” She said softly.

He smiled and nudged her nose with his.  “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He showed her how to use the telescope, making sure to keep close to her as he did so. Their hands brushed, and he left kisses on the side of her neck every so often.  It was the most cherished Rose had ever felt in her life. No boyfriend she’d ever had had spent so long just talking to her, learning about her. She looked up at him and saw him looking down at her with affection she wasn’t ready to place a name to. 

The stars had never held too much interest for Rose, but the way Theta described them, with such excitement and grand gestures with his hands, made her suddenly very interested.  He told her the stories of each constellation, told her what his favorites were, and she found herself smiling with an odd sort of awe. 

“What do you think?” He asked her softly.  

“I think it’s wonderful,” she told him, and honestly meant it.

“You’re not just saying that so I’ll take you back to bed?”

She rolled her eyes.  “You wish.”

“Mm.”  He rested his chin on her shoulder.  “Yeah, I do.”

She leaned her head against his, liking this simple closeness.  She almost felt as though they’d been made for each other, to fit against one another this snugly, with no space between them.  And she didn’t want any space. 

“We should go, before they get suspicious,” Rose said regrettably after several minutes, turning to face him, her back to the telescope.  

“You’re right,” he said, but didn’t make much of an effort to move.  Instead, he bent down and kissed her, making Rose realize that she’d actually missed kissing him in the few hours that they hadn’t done it.  She cupped his jaw in her hand, feeling it working against her mouth. Finally, she pulled away, nearly feeling the time passing.

“I’m serious,” she whispered, “I need to go back to my room.”

“Or you could come back to mine,” He said, kissing her again.  Strong arms wrapped around her back and she melted into him, curling one hand into the hair at the nape of his neck and leaving the other where it was on his face.  One of his hands clenched in her shirt, but he didn’t try to move it any farther than kissing. After several moments he pulled back, pressing one kiss to her nose and one to her forehead. 

“I can’t come back to yours,” she said, “You know that.”

“I know.”  He sighed softly, pressing his forehead to hers. “I’m going to stay up here for a bit.  Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” She whispered.  “Can I come back here again?”

“You’re welcome to,” he said, looking surprised that she was even asking. 

Blushing, she kissed him on the cheek and bid him another goodnight before leaving the room, feeling her heart racing just from that excitement.  He’d given her something completely their own, and she couldn’t help but think he meant something serious by that. By offering her something no one else had ever had with him, he was committing to her, and that scared her as much as it excited her.

She couldn’t stay.

She was so deep in her thoughts she barely noticed Donna and Martha in her room when she opened the door to it. 

“God!” She shouted when she noticed them, throwing her hand over her heart in her shock.  “What are you two _doing_ in here?”  
They stared at her and Donna spoke up first. 

“Where did the Prince take you?”

Rose blinked, not expecting a question so abrupt.  “Uh…”

“Well?” Donna crossed her arms.  “We all saw him making puppy dog eyes at you over the table.”

“You did not,” Rose said, laughing a little. “Look, the Prince just wanted to thank me for talking to him after the press conference. He was a right mess, actually, it was a good thing I talked to him.”

“And then what did you do?” Martha asked.  “Come on, nobody talks for several hours like that unless something else is going on.”  She softened when she saw the fear on Rose’s face. “Rose, it’s alright. We wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“We-” She sighed. “I’m not sure what to say.  We’re… We’ve become fond of each other.”

“We know,” Martha and Donna said together.

Rose blew out her cheeks.  “It can’t last though, as much as I might want it to.  And you really can’t tell anyone, I’m afraid this might ruin him for getting married.”

“You want him to get married to someone else?” Donna asked, her eyebrows shooting up.  “What exactly were you doing this afternoon?”

Rose turned absolutely beet red and couldn’t make eye contact with either of the other women, which simply made them laugh. 

“We just wanted to know,” Martha said, “And what do you think?  Are you going to continue on with it?”

“Yeah,” Rose whispered.

Martha got up and hugged Rose, patting her reassuringly on the back. “I think you’re very stupid for doing it,” she said, “But I see the way you look at each other.”

Rose squeezed her eyes shut and nodded.  It would be so hard to leave, to get in a taxi to go to the airport and leave him behind.  But for now, she thought it might be worth it. It was lovely enough to be around him, and the risk was enough. 

The women chatted for a bit, Martha and Donna reassuring her numerous times that everything was going to be alright, and that they wouldn’t tell anyone.  By the time they left her room, Rose wondered how she was going to leave both her two new friends and Theta behind. 

When had a  _ job  _ gotten so complicated?


	13. Chapter 13

Despite her relationship with the Prince, Rose didn’t slow down on her writing.  The coronation events were very interesting, and it was clear to see that even though they’d been a bit rough at the press conference, he was very much cared about.  The people loved him, and wanted him to lead them. 

“They like you,” Rose told him as they sat together in the observatory.  There was to be a meteor shower that night, and he insisted that they couldn’t miss it.

“Mm,” He replied, not paying attention to her words.  

“They do!”  

“What?”

“Your people,” She said slowly, “They like you.”

He blushed a little.  “Well, they certainly seem to.  But I’m not king yet, they could end up hating me, you know.”

She smiled, watching him fiddle with the telescope some more.  They were both in their pajamas, as it was  _ very  _ late, and she thought he looked adorable.  This was a bit of sneaking around, and she quite liked it.  It was romantic, even though it’d only been a couple days since they’d been here last. 

“They won’t hate you,” She said, and she sounded so sure of it that she even believed herself.  He held a hand out to her and she got to her feet, taking his hand and letting him lead her to the telescope.  

“Look, here,” he said softly.  “It’s starting.”

“Oh, wow,” She said when she saw it, and for several moments they continued to take turns watching the shower.  It was beautiful, and with the light pollution in London, it was often difficult to see things like this. 

Theta wrapped his arms around Rose from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder, nose to her cheek.  She laid her hand over his, settling back against his chest. They almost felt like a normal couple when he held her like this. 

“Thirteen days,” he murmured right next to her ear.

“What do you mean?” She asked, furrowing her brows.

“Till my coronation,” he replied.  “You know, it’s just… Close.”

“How’s your dad doing?” Rose asked quickly, not wanting to talk about them.  

“Mm, he’s fine,” Theta said, tugging her closer to him.  “He’s relieved, I think, that he doesn’t have to be doing anything anymore.  The job was starting to take a greater toll on him then he’d like to admit, I think.”

Rose had to agree.  The King looked more and more tired as the days went on, and now that Theta’s coronation was close, he seemed to at least be happy.  Rose tilted her head up to look Theta in the face. She reached up and patted his cheek. “Don’t worry.”

“I have to.”

She rolled her eyes. “No, you don’t.  You don’t have to worry for another thirteen days, clearly.  It’s alright to relax for just a bit, you know.”

“I suppose,” he said, though he didn’t seem to be convinced by it.  He kissed her cheek to distract her and spun her out of his arms, grabbing her waist so that she was still close to him.  “But if I don’t worry, who will?”

She didn’t have an answer for him, so she laughed and shook her head.  “No, that’s alright,” she said softly, “I guess I don’t know. But you’re gonna get worry lines,” she rubbed her thumb over his cheek, finding herself not interested in the meteor shower anymore. 

He leaned down and took her lips in a gentle kiss, just to feel her mouth against his.  She hummed and wrapped her arms around his neck, one of her hands sliding underneath the collar of his shirt.  He hummed and held her tighter against him, fingers flexing against her back. 

Rose had tried not to think about what came after. About the fact that she’d have to leave Theta and go back to London.  Would he still want to talk to her at all? Or had this become the very fling she’d been afraid of? She was afraid she was growing too attached, and as scary as it was, the way he held her felt  _ perfect.  _

“Where are you?” Theta asked, his lips moving against her temple. 

“What?”

He chuckled.  “You’re a thousand miles from here.”

“My thoughts never left you,” She told him honestly.  She tilted her chin to look at him again. His eyes were dark and watching her intently, as though trying to read her.  She tried to school her features, smiling up at him. 

“I wish you could come stay with me tonight,” he said softly, stroking one hand over her stomach.  “I wish you could stay with me every night.”

She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to his jaw.  “Me too,” she said, not wanting to look at him, really. She thought it might wrap her right up in him and she’d end up going back to his room with him.  Sleeping alone in her bed was difficult now that she’d felt the way he'd been so comfortable, wrapped up around her.

Eventually, though, they did part, with several long goodnight kisses, her hands cupping his cheeks and his hands settled on her hips.  When one kiss found her pressed up against the wall of the observatory, one leg hitched up over his hip, she tugged on his hair. “I don’t think I can stay here much longer without letting you take me,” she said softly, pulling his head a little farther back from hers. 

He laughed, nodding. “I think I might not let you leave if we keep this up,” he admitted.

She stroked her hand through his hair and smiled fondly at him. “Okay, then I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

He kissed her forehead. “Yeah,” he said, “Goodnight, Rose.”

“Goodnight, your highness.”

He pulled a face and she laughed, ducking from the room and heading back to her own quarters. She ran into Jack patrolling the hall as she was on her way back.  

“Miss Tyler, you certainly are out late!” He said, smiling at her.  She could tell he was suspicious but hoped he wouldn’t push her any further.  

She smiled back, forcing it a bit too hard.  “Yeah, just wandering around. Thought I should take a break from writing.”

“Ah,well, that makes sense.”  He winked at her. “Just don’t work too hard, alright?”

Rose laughed. “Of course, Jack.”  She practically ran to her room after that, wondering if Jack had been in search of the Prince. They’d nearly been caught, if that was the case.  

In Rose’s nightmares, she’d be sent home and fired if she was caught cohorting with the subject of her work.  It was the height of indecency and yet she couldn’t bring herself to stay away from him. Even if she did, she’d only regret it later on, she was sure of it.  Breathing out a sigh, she crawled into bed, too tired to think about what else might happen.

The days crawled by.  She spent some time out of the castle with Donna and Martha (who she was becoming very good friends with) and some time inside the castle either writing or in Theta’s company.  With seven days now to the coronation, Rose had interviewed the King with the other journalists and was sitting down to complete her piece on it when there was a knock at her door. 

She tilted her head back and looked towards the door, expecting Martha or Donna.  “Come in,” She said, and was surprised to see Theta enter the room. “Oh, hello.”

“Hello,” he said, shutting the door behind him. “What are you working on?”

“The piece about your dad,” She replied, tipping back in her chair as he threw himself on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.  “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just getting comfortable,” he said, looking over at her. “I think we should go into the city again, before the coronation.”

“I don’t know if we can hide your identity as well as we did the first time,” Rose disagreed, “People will be looking for you more, you know.”

He frowned. “I can wear a hat again.”

Rose was still a bit uncomfortable with the idea.  “Yeah? And what if they see us together, hm? What will they think?”

He regarded her with serious eyes. “I don’t care what people think anymore, Rose.”  
She blushed and looked away from him.  He had a habit of digging right into her and pulling out exactly what she wanted to hear.  But he couldn’t mean that. This was his future, he was to be King, and shouldn’t taint his appearance with some journalist from out of the country.

“Let me think about it,” She said.  “I don’t like the idea of putting you in the public eye where things can get… Twisted.”

He sat up, regarding her carefully. “What, are you embarrassed?”

“ _ You  _ should be embarrassed!” She cried, turning in her chair. “Of me, of this!  I’m so below you, Theta, and if people see us together, they’ll just talk.”

His jaw dropped, truly shocked by what she was saying.  “You’re kidding, right? Please say you’re kidding.”

“I’m not kidding.”

“Rose, you’re the most fantastic woman I’ve ever met.  I’m not going to hide you away because you think the press won’t like you. I couldn’t care less what they think.”

She clenched her jaw, trying to fight back tears that were springing up unbidden. Noticing her distress, Theta got off her bed and knelt down in front of her.  “Hey,” he wrapped his arms around her waist, settling his head on her chest. She let out a shaky sigh and rested her cheek on the top of his head, wondering how she was going to go on without him. 

“I don’t want this to end,” she said, “That’s all, I’m just irritable because we don’t have a lot of time left.”  
“I know,” he replied, clenching his fingers in her t-shirt as if she was trying to get away and he didn’t want to let her go.  “I know.”

Another knock at the door made Rose groan, and Theta got back up, sitting on the edge of the bed.  

“Who is it?” Rose shouted to the door.

“Martha.”

“And Donna!”

“Come in,” Rose waved her hand and set back to typing.

“They  _ know?”  _ Theta asked.

“They caught me the first night you took me to the observatory,” She told him, “They wouldn’t tell anyone, and they haven’t.”

Theta seemed to take this at face value as the other women entered, shutting the door behind them.  

“You know, if you don’t want people to know your together, keep your lover’s spats to a minimum,” Donna said, crossing her arms over her chest. Theta winced.

“We just wanted to make sure everything was okay,” Martha said, to soften the blow.

“Everything’s fine,” Rose smiled.  “Just…”

“I’d like to go into the city before my coronation and Rose thinks it’s a bad idea,” Theta said, pouting a bit.  Rose rolled her eyes at his childishness.

Martha laughed.  “Well, that’s an easy fix.”

“What?” Rose turned and frowned at her.  “How so?”

‘We all go together,” Martha shrugged, “You know?  If his highness is with all three of us, then it’ll just look like he’s showing us around.  The whole country knows we’re here to write about him, after all.”

Donna nodded thoughtfully, “That’s not a bad idea, providing that the two of you can keep your hands off of each other.”

Rose and Theta both blushed, not even daring to look at one another, and Donna and Martha simply laughed at them.  

“Let’s do it,” Theta said, once he’d recovered from his momentary embarrassment.  He looked over at Rose. “If that’s alright with you?”

Rose thought it over, but ultimately couldn’t see anything wrong with it.  It would be easier to be less inconspicuous with all three of the girls going, but it would be very difficult not to hold his hand at all.  She looked down at his hand, as though thinking about taking it right then and there. 

“Okay,” She whispered.  “Yeah, we can do that.”

“Brilliant!” Martha clapped her hands, “Tomorrow, a night on the town, we’ll go to dinner at a nice fancy restaurant.”

“I can pick up the bill,” Theta chimed in.  “I… Owe you all a lot, for making me look so good in your articles.”

“Oh, so you’ve been reading them?” Donna teased.

“I have to see what you all are saying about me,” He smiled, “But yeah, a dinner, perhaps something after, like-”

“We could go to a club!” Martha clapped her hands. 

Theta groaned and fell back on the bed, and the girls laughed, already chatting about what the next night would hold.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to Gingergallifreyan for encouraging me in continuing the story the way I wanted to tell it when I was having doubts. I am so appreciative of you, dear <3

 

When Donna and Martha left Rose’s room, Theta stayed, laying back on Rose’s bed and watching her type on her computer.  It was nice, just to sit and be with each other. After awhile though, she grew tired of being near him but not paying any attention to him, and got up to go to him.  He watched her movements, fingers laced together over his stomach.

Without preamble she climbed onto the bed, straddling his hips.  His eyes bugged a bit but otherwise he didn’t say anything. She set her hands on his chest and leaned over him. “How are you just sitting there and not saying anything?” She asked him.

He moved his own hands to hold her hips.  “I like watching you,” he said softly. “You scrunch up your nose when you type, it’s cute.”

She laughed, leaning down to kiss him.  ‘He huffed out a laugh but kissed her back, patting her back like he was reassuring her.  She sank completely against him, her work forgotten.

The next night, Rose dressed up a bit, mostly because Martha and Donna said they were going to wear something nice.  She donned a dark red dress that was fitted all the way to her mid thigh, a lace overlay covering the opaque parts of the dress and covering her bare shoulders and chest.  A sweetheart neckline could be seen underneath the lace, and though she hadn’t thought she’d be wearing this dress while here, she’d packed it on impulse, but she was a bit glad to have a reason to wear it and show off.  Smoothing her hands over her thighs, she blew her cheeks out and headed to Donna’s room. 

The three met up and preened over each other for a bit before Theta was supposed to arrive.  He’d probably be taking his time, Rose realized, and she wasn’t sure why her heart was racing so much at the thought of seeing him tonight.  It was different, getting dressed up and wondering what his reaction would be.

“Oh, relax, you look beautiful,” Martha said, squeezing Rose’s shoulders.  “Now, he wouldn’t be looking at us anyway, but he  _ really  _ won’t when he sees you.”

Rose offered her friend a shaky smile, and Martha proclaimed that she would need some sort of lipstick to match with that dress.  

The three women chatted about what restaurant Theta might have chosen and what they would have, though none of them actually knew any names of restaurants. Rose would guess he would take them to a nicer restaurant than the ones she’d ever been to.  That was the part that made her most nervous. She wasn’t classy enough for Theta, and she knew deep down he didn’t really care, but it was still something she was afraid of. 

A knock at the door sounded a few minutes later, and Rose stood to answer it.  She opened the door but didn’t let Theta in, taking a moment for herself. 

He looked absolutely gorgeous, properly suited and booted, everything but his hair tucked neatly into place.

“You look amazing,” he blurted out before she could even remark on his appearance. 

She blushed. “Thanks,” she said, shifting from foot to foot.  “So you do, my God.”

He tugged on his sleeve. “I really… I think I should start dressing the part.  Of a King, I mean, and… I want people to take me seriously.”

He looked very nervous, and she reached out and cupped his cheek, stroking her thumb over the swell of the bone there.  “They will,” she promised. “We’ll be right out, do you know where we’re going?”  
He took her hand off his cheek and pressed a kiss to the back of it, looking up at her from under his fringe.  “I know exactly where we’re going. And we won’t be walking this time.”

She blinked and nodded. “Yeah.  Yeah, alright. Just one second.”

Rose turned back to the girls but left the door open.  “Ready to go?” She asked, and Donna and Martha quickly put their shoes on and grabbed their handbags.  Donna gave Rose a reassuring smile as she passed her, and Rose forced one back. She was still nervous, knowing that their pictures would definitely be taken tonight, and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to keep him off of her.  She wanted to hold onto his arm while they walked along the sidewalk, and sit close to him at dinner. But they’d have to be professional. 

Theta complimented Donna and Martha when they came out of the room, kissing their hands but without the same heat he’d kissed Rose’s with. 

“We’re taking the royal car, no more buses,” he said, giving Rose a pointed look. She smiled apologetically at him, remembering what an  _ adventure  _ that had been.

The royal car was a like a short limo, very spacious, with seats facing each other which gave it a more luxury limo feel, but Rose still sat right up against Theta, since she wouldn’t be able to at the restaurant.  He set his hand on her knee, his fingers around her thigh. She settled her hand over his and looked nervously to Jack, who was driving the car. He didn’t turn around, and was, perhaps, oblivious. Theta noticed her nervous glances, though, and put up the separation between them.

“Where are we going?” Donna asked excitedly, “We’ve only really been to the chippies around here, and the cheaper restaurants.  I’m not even sure we’ve been to the nice part of town.”

Martha nodded. “She’s right.”

Theta leaned back, drumming his fingers on Rose’s knee.  “It’s called Bad Wolf, it’s a steakhouse, but there are obviously other options.  I think you’ll all like it.”

Martha’s eyes lit up.  “Ooh, it’s been so long since I had a good steak.”

“Me too,” Rose laughed, “You may have picked the perfect spot.”

*****

Rose felt out of place the second they stepped out of the car, and Jack begged for a tip from the girls for driving them.  Martha relented and kissed him on the cheek, giggling when he complimented how soft her lips were. 

“Are you alright?” Theta asked, bending close to her.

“Yeah,” She smiled tightly at him, “Just not used to this kind of place, that’s all.”  She squeezed his arm. “But please don’t think I’m not grateful.”

“I would never think that.”

Several people took photos of Theta on their way into the restaurant, and the maitrodie looked absolutely star struck when he was told the reservation was for the royal family.  Rose had never seen someone stumble over their own feet so many times.

Passing through the restaurant was the same way, with many people either looking at Theta or pulling out their phones to take a photo of him.  He ignored them, and Rose was sure to keep her distance, not wanting there to be any photos of them holding hands of anything of the like. 

Except for the fact, of course, that she  _ wished  _ photos like that would circulate. 

Their dinner was incredibly pleasant, and Theta minded every single one of his manners, which Rose honestly wasn’t expecting.  She supposed he was serious when he said that he wanted to play the part of King early. Well, she supposed that until his hand slipped around her inner thigh a few moments before their dinner arrived. 

The conversation was lovely, and Rose found herself falling for Theta a bit more every time he turned to address her or did anything else to catch her attention.  She found herself holding his hand under the table, feeling his thumb stroke over hers. She wanted nothing more than to tilt her head onto his shoulder, but held every urge back. 

After dinner, Martha and Donna were still on about the club, and since Theta was in a good mood, he agreed.

“But I won’t be dancing,” he said gravely, “It’s not proper.”

Rose decided then that she wouldn’t be dancing either.  

They went to a club in the same district as the restaurant, which meant that it was still more than a bit high class. Martha came up next to Rose as they went to enter and looped her arm through hers.  

“It’s a bit exciting, isn’t it?” She said, smiling.  “I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve been out on the town.”

Rose grinned back. “Me neither. I’m positively married to my work.”

The two giggled and Donna rolled her eyes.  “Alright, nobody go home with anybody that isn’t in  _ this group.   _ The last thing we want is a scandal, yeah?”

“Yes, mum,” Martha said good naturedly, and followed it up with a serious, “We’ll all be careful. I’m pretty sure Rose and his highness won’t even drink.”

“I won’t,” Theta agreed.

“Well, wait, will you still be having fun?” Donna asked worriedly, her brows knitting together. “This isn’t all about us, you know.”

“It’s a nice club,” Theta reassured her, “And I like the people watching.  Besides, I’ll be sure to stick to Rose, you won’t have to worry about me causing a fuss.” 

Rose turned her blinding smile onto him and Martha squeezed her arm encouragingly.  

They were let in right away once the bouncer saw Theta, and with the comment, “It’s been awhile, your highness!”  Theta cringed and ducked his head as they entered, making the three girls exchange a worried glance. 

Martha and Donna’s worry didn’t last long, and the music inside the club quickly got them up and moving, dancing in the middle of the floor.  Rose wanted to dance a bit, but she didn’t want to make Theta jealous, and she didn’t really want to dance with anyone that wasn't him anyway.  She let him take her by the elbow and lead her to the bar, perching next to him when they got there. 

“So, are you having a nice night?”  She asked him, scooting a bit closer so she could hear him over the music.

“Of course I am,” he said, “It’s nice to be surrounded by… Friends.”  
Rose leaned her elbow on the counter, her chin in her hand. “Yeah, I suppose it would be,” she replied.  “Gonna be a bit weird when we leave.”

He frowned, shaking his head and looking away from her. “I don’t want to think about that right now.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m just not ready to handle it.”

They ordered sodas, and the bartender remarked on Theta’s choice of drink.  “Your highness, this isn’t your usual fare,” he said, “We still carry the whisky you like.”

“None tonight,” Theta smiled politely, “I’m afraid I’ll be staying off the stuff.”  
“Ahh, more’s the pity, your highness.”

Rose turned to him, a bit confused. “You seem to know your way around this club more than I thought,” she said.

“I used to come here, in my wilder days,” he lifted a shoulder, “I agreed to come tonight because I thought it might be a good way to rebrand myself as a responsible man.  A responsible king.” He looked at her, searching her eyes for a moment. “Go dance, Rose, I know you want to.”

She laid a hand on his shoulder, looking him in the eye and not letting her gaze waver. “Not without you.”

He seemed to be fighting with himself, and after taking another sip of his drink, looked back to her. She let her hand fall from him and went back to her own drink, taking sips from it and now avoiding his eyes. 

A song that was less ‘clubby’ and more ‘high school prom’ (in Rose’s eyes anyway) began to play, and everyone who didn’t have a partner booed and shuffled off the floor towards the bar.  Martha had found a bloke to dance with, but Donna came to where Rose and Theta sat.

“Go on,” She said, waving them off, “Go dance this one, I’ll save your seats.”

“It would be… Appropriate dancing,” Rose said, tilting her head a little. 

Theta laughed and got to his feet, taking Rose’s hand and guiding her to the edge of the dance floor. He held her in a waltz hold that was very proper, and didn’t cradle her too close to him. 

“This is nice,” She said, squeezing the hand she was holding.  “Promise you’ll save me a dance at your reception?”

He grimaced. “Oh, I forgot there was going to be one of those after the coronation.”  

“You’ll like it. All kinds of attention, good food to eat.”

“Yes, well.  Those are some of my favorite things,” he said, spinning her out of his arms and quickly back into the hold. 

She laughed, “I suspected.”

They chatted quietly throughout the rest of the song, and it was the only one the danced to, knowing that it would be the only one that wouldn’t get them pasted all over the cover of every sleazy magazine in Gallifrey.  Once they started yawning Rose told Donna and Martha that she and Theta would wait for them outside. Since it was now appropriate since they were the only too, Rose took his arm on the way out. He sighed a little when her arm finally looped through his.

“Do you know how hard it’s been not to kiss you all night?” He asked her as he pulled out his phone to call for Jack.

“Yes,” she said firmly, at once.  “Kiss me the moment we’re back at the palace.”

He laughed, delighted. “I’ll do you one better.  Get ready for bed and meet me in my room.”

She cocked her eyebrow at him. “Alright.”

The four of them went home, and when everyone was tucked away in bed, Rose snuck to Theta’s room.  She’d expected a quick roll in the hay, but what she found was a million times better.

He’d lit the room with what looked to be lighted star charts, and when she entered, he started playing music on an old cd player.  “I want to dance closer with you,” he told her, and she ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck and embracing him in a way she couldn’t before.  Pulling back from the hug, she kissed him firmly. 

He sighed and wrapped her up against him, swaying back and forth.  When she pulled back for breath, she leaned her head against his shoulder, still clinging to him.  He pressed his nose to her temple and hummed softly to her along with the music, one hand stroking up and down her back.

When they tired of that kind of dancing, they went to bed together.  Theta set an alarm for very early so Rose could leave his room without getting caught, and then wrapped himself around her, pressing kisses to whatever part of her skin he could reach.

Whatever happened tomorrow… They would deal with tomorrow.


	15. Chapter 15

 

After nights of getting to know each other and days of getting closer and closer, the day Rose had been secretly dreading finally came.  The Coronation. 

That morning, Rose got dressed in the outfit that Sarah Jane had approved for the occasion.  It was a pastel pink pencil dress, with a short sleeved short jacket of the same color over top.  She paired it with a pair of white pumps and a hat a darker pink than her outfit, a birdcage lace covering half of her face.  

She heard a knock at her door and glanced towards it from her mirror. “Come in.”

Unsurprisingly, it was Theta, who looked dreadfully nervous.  He was wringing his hands and wearing a heavy, red ceremonial uniform.  She smiled and walked towards him, smoothing her hands over his shoulders.  “You look wonderful,” She said, and looked up at his face, seeing the anxiety written all over it.  

He set his hands on her waist, rubbing his thumbs over her ribs.  “I don’t know about this,” he said, “What if I’m not a good King, Rose?”

“Stop,” She said firmly, smacking him on the chest lightly. “Everything’s going to be fine. You’re wonderful.  You know you are.”

He hung his head, staring down at his feet.  “I don’t always feel it.”

“You will.  You’ll be great.”  She cupped his cheeks and pulled him down to kiss him on the forehead.  He sighed and wrapped his arms fully around her, pushing his nose against her neck.  

She sighed, patting his back and closing her eyes.  She’d be leaving that evening after all the festivities, back to her boring life in London. Well, boring compared to living in a castle and exploring a new country.  And, well, it would be strange to live life without Theta.

“Are you supposed to be here?” She asked after a couple moments.  

He pulled back, grinning shyly at her. “No. I expect Jack is going bonkers trying to find me at the moment.  The press is starting to cover the event and I have to be in my carriage in a half hour.”

“You’d better go, then.  Remember, I’m press too.”

“Yeah, but you’ll say nice things about me, won’t you?” 

“Only if you behave yourself.”

He laughed.  “But can I kiss you, just once more? I don’t know if I’ll get to, later.”

She nodded.  “Yes,” she said “Please.”

He bent down and kissed her, and it felt like a goodbye kiss.  She framed his jaw in her hands, holding him close for what was probably the last time.  She’d known this would come to an end, but for some reason, she hadn’t actually expected it to come so soon.  She pulled back to keep the kiss from deepening and looked up at him. He looked earnest, like there was something he wanted to say. She arched an eyebrow at him.

“I- I just want you to know,” he blew out his cheeks. “You’ll be the most beautiful woman there.”

She smiled. “I’ll be front row too.  Try not to get distracted.” She gave him one more squeeze before turning him towards the door. “But you’d better go, don’t want Jack to have an attack.”

He left the room, but not without looking back to her a couple of times.  She bit her lip, not wanting this to be any harder than it had to be. She went to Martha’s room, letting herself in.  Martha was dressed in a green dress with a silver belt, and sitting at her vanity, working on her makeup. Donna was sat on the bed, wearing blue. 

Rose heaved a sigh and pasted on a smile.  They could do this. This could be easy.

Rose, Martha, and Donna were driven to the coronation hall.  It was a short drive from the palace, just enough to keep people off the palace grounds.  That didn’t stop the crowds though, hoards of people cheering for Theta. Rose felt so small in all of it.  She’d never seen so many people in one place like this, at least not in person. They didn’t crowd the street, though, and let their car through.

The coronation hall was a museum when it wasn’t used for coronations, but the Gallifreyans found that coronations of their royalty was a sacred event, so the actual hall where the coronation occurred was never touched.  Rose had written an article about it two weeks ago, but to see the hall was something else entirely.

It reminded her of the chapel in Windsor Castle, only much bigger.  It was beautiful, decked in gold and red, two Gallifreyan flags hung up by the front of the chapel. It was a bit odd and a bit dramatic, but that seemed to be the culture of the royals here.

It was quiet in the hall, and when Rose, Donna, and Martha were led to their seats, all eyes were on them.  Rose shifted uncomfortably and looked down at the coronation program.

“Oh, it’s alright,” Donna said, nudging Rose, “Nobody besides us knows you were shagging the Prince.”

Rose held back a snort, choking on her own breath in the process, and Martha giggled next to her. 

They chatted quietly until the timeless, chiming music that the Gallifreyans preferred began.  The King stepped out from behind the organ, and a priest of some sort followed. They stood at the front of the chapel, and the King moved slowly to one of the thrones that sat in the middle of the stage area, sitting down on it.  The priest handed him a scepter and settled a heavy ceremonial crown on his head.

Prince Theta entered several minutes later, wearing what Rose had seen him in earlier, with a heavy red cape and a few extra pins added onto his uniform.  Rose hadn’t realized how decorated he was before. 

He looked serious, and nodded to the priest before sitting down on the throne next to the King.  He looked straight forwards and the music drew to a close. The silence that fell over the room was almost heavier, and Rose swallowed hard, nervous for him.  

“Prince Theta of the house of Lungburrow, do you accept the duty placed upon you?” The priest’s voice echoed through the hall.

“I accept the duty of leading the country,” Prince Theta replied.

“Do you accept the duty to be fair and just, and to watch over the people as though they were your children?”

“I accept the duty to be fair and just, and to watch over my people as though they were my children.”  
There were several call and responses between Theta and the priest of the same nature, wherein Theta promised many things that Rose was sure he would barely remember tomorrow.  The final one was directed at the King.

“And do you, Your Majesty, revoke your title to your son?”

The King swallowed and looked to Theta briefly. “I abdicate my throne to my son, Prince Theta, as I have grown too old to perform the job as I was once capable.  I give the Prince my blessing and guidance until the day I die.”  
What followed was oddly breathtaking.  The crown was removed from the King, or, former King, and settled onto Theta’s head.  Once it was on, Theta stood and knelt before his father, fist over his chest. He stood again and accepted the scepter that was held out for him.  Both of them turned to face the crowd and Theta’s eyes immediately locked on Rose as the priest recited a blessing over them. She smiled at him and saw his lip twitch in response.

Once the long blessings and prayers over Theta’s reign were over, the ceremony was over.  Rose had thought it would be over an hour, but it fell just under. She sighed and looked to Donna and Martha.  

“You gonna be okay?” Martha asked.

Rose nodded. “Yeah,” She said softly, “But it’s alright, we both knew it wasn’t gonna last, you know?”

Donna pulled Rose into a hug anyway.

There was a huge dinner back at the palace following the ceremony, but Theta, now a King, had to say hello to everyone, and there were a  _ lot  _ of people.  He kept looking to Rose, but he couldn’t quite get to her.  

The night flew by in a whirl, and soon it was time for Rose, Donna, and Martha to take their separate flights home.  The girls exchanged phone numbers and parted to pack up all their things. Rose changed into something comfortable to wear to the airport and pulled her hair up.  Setting her suitcase by the door, she sat at her desk and sketched out a letter to Theta, since she wouldn’t be able to see him before leaving. 

Jack knocked on her door.  “Miss Tyler, are you ready?”  
“Yeah!” Rose folded the note up and shoved it into an envelope, scribbling his name on the outside of it.  She opened her door and handed the note to Jack. “Can you make sure His Majesty Theta gets this?”

Jack blinked. “Yeah. A thank you note?”  
Rose smiled. “Yeah.  Just didn’t get to thank him in person tonight.”

Martha and Donna met the two of them in the hallway and they exited through a side door, as the party was still going on.  

“It’ll be good to be home,” Martha mused as they settled into the car.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Donna smiled. “As fun as this was, I’m ready to be in my own bed and not have to dress up for breakfast.”

Rose laughed. “I might get dressed up out of habit now,” she said, “I feel weird wearing this.”  She plucked at the fabric of her leggings and the other girls agreed heartily.

“Well, I’ll certainly miss you ladies,” Jack said flirtatiously, “So you can come back and visit with me any time.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Martha laughed, “Maybe we’ll pretend to miss this city so much we’ll come back just to see you.”

“I’d like that, Miss Jones!”

The attitude was light hearted until the girls all had to split up to get onto their separate flights.  They all hugged and promised wildly to keep in touch. Martha blew a kiss and went off to hurry to her gate.  

“Maybe you’ll see him again,” Donna said softly, hugging Rose one last time.

“Maybe,” Rose said, but she didn’t quite think that was true.  She bid Donna goodbye and they parted, Rose headed towards London once more. 

Part of her, the naive, completely romantic part, thought that Theta would burst into the airport and sweep her off her feet.  She knew that wasn’t really true, so she hurried and got onto the plane, not looking back, and just looking to London.

******  
When Jack returned from the airport, he went to find Theta.  Tapping himon the shoulder, he extended his hand with the note in it.  “Your Majesty, Miss Tyler left a note for you.”

Theta’s face fell. “What? She’s gone?”

Jack nodded. “Yes, sire.  The reporters are all gone, they were planning to leave at this time since they got here.”

“Oh.  I… I thought there might be more time.”

“I’m sorry. Did you want to say goodbye?”

“Yes, I did.”  Theta looked incredibly disappointed, and Jack guessed why. 

It wasn’t until far later, when everyone had left, that Theta sat down to read the letter.  His ceremonial garb was all hung up, and the crown was put away for the next ceremony. 

_ Dear Theta, (Can I still call you that?) _

_ You did wonderfully today, and I’m sure you’re going to continue to be great.  You’re wonderful, after all.  _

_ I’m really glad I met you, Theta.  And I’m sorry to leave without saying goodbye, but there wasn’t any time.   _

_ I don’t know what to say. I just started this letter knowing that I had to say something.  Anything, so that you know how I feel, you know? I guess you do. I’ll miss you a lot, your Majesty, I wasn’t expecting to come into this and leave with a heavy heart.  _

_ Thank you. _

_ Yours, _

_ Rose Tyler. _

He hung his head, his hand clenching on the paper.  How had he missed her?


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there will be one more chapter and an epilogue after this one :)
> 
> Enjoy!

 

When Rose returned home, she fell right back into her work. She wasn’t the type to mope over a guy, but if she was going to mope over anyone, it would be Theta.  She missed waking up next to him, though she didn’t miss having to be rushed out in the early hours. She missed a lot of things about Gallifrey, the country had stolen her heart in several different ways and she hadn’t wanted to leave. 

“Your articles were really good,” Sarah Jane praised her on her first day back.  “I’m very pleased with the work you did in Gallifrey. I need you to do a follow up piece for the site about the coronation, so you’ll have to catch up on current Gallifreyan news.”

Rose almost winced. She’d have to look at more pictures of Theta, and miss him even more. She forced a smile. “Sure thing,” She said, spinning in her chair to look at her boss.  “I’ll submit it by the end of the week.

“Brilliant.  Take it easy though, I’m sure you’re jet lagged.  You know, you didn’t have to come in today.”

Rose smiled. “Yeah, I know, but I didn’t want to get bored.”

“Well, you look tired.”

She lifted a shoulder. “It’s alright.”

Sarah Jane left then, looking a little worried, but not pushing the matter anymore. Rose worked for several hours until she needed to go home, but entering her flat was odd.  It was dark and she sighed, running her hand through her hair. Sarah Jane was right, she  _ was  _ tired.  She took a quick shower and crawled into her bed once she had her pajamas on.  She’d have to get up tomorrow early anyway. 

***********************

Back in Gallifrey, Theta was in a bit of a panic. As well as dealing with his new kingly responsibilities, he was worried about Rose.  What she must think of him. His worst fear was that she thought he had pushed her away by not spending time with her at the party. Deep down he knew that was irrational, and that she understood he had to talk to certain people and play the part. 

She was perfect.  Well, maybe not, but she was perfect for  _ him,  _ and he found himself wishing she could still be here with him.  He wondered if she even missed him. 

“Your Majesty, are you alright?” Jack asked, having found Theta sitting in the library, holding a book but not reading it. 

Theta looked up at Jack, his eyes a bit glazed over.  “Do you think it would be possible to find out where Miss Tyler lives?”

“May I ask why you’re asking, sire?”

Theta wrinkled his nose. “I suppose I can tell you if I’m going to be doing it… Miss Tyler and I were sort of in a relationship when she was here.”

Jack blinked. “You know what? I suspected that.”

“You did?”

“You looked at her with these big doe eyes, your Majesty, no offense.”  Jack smiled when Theta blushed. “Well, what are you going to do?”

Theta leaned back on the couch. “I’m going to pursue her.  It’s not illegal for us to be together, I read the laws about it.”

Jack blinked. “You must be serious about her.”

“Yeah, I am,” he said softly, “I need a Queen, that’s what they keep telling me, and the more I think about it, I don’t want anyone except Rose.”

“Well,” Jack smiled.  “I can take a look and search her up for you.  We can be out of here by the evening.”

“Can I leave, though?” Rose asked, looking over at Jack.  “So early into my reign?”

“Your father is still here,” Jack said, “And I hardly think that the country will be upset over you pursuing true love.”

“Well that makes it sound like a bloody fairy tale, Jack,” Theta groused.

“Could be!” Jack said,calling it over his shoulder as he walked from the room. “I’ll go do some research!”

**********

A few days went by, and Rose fell back into her routine, though it was still incredibly odd.  Something had felt so right about being in Gallifrey, but there was no life for her there. She knew that.  There couldn’t be: she couldn’t be with Theta, and she couldn’t find a  _ job  _ there.  So as much as the country stole her heart, she couldn’t stay there. 

She couldn’t stop thinking about it either. 

She sat in her office a week after leaving, proofreading her last article about the King, when a knock sounded at her door.  She looked up. “Come in.”

Sarah Jane opened the door and smiled at Rose.  “You have a visitor.’

Rose frowned.  “What?”  
“Do you want me to let them in.”

Rose looked at her computer.  “Yeah, I suppose. I have a minute.”

Sarah Jane disappeared and Rose looked back to her computer, scrolling down a bit on her screen.  The door opened again and footsteps signalled someone entering. The door shut behind the person and Rose looked up, gasping when she saw who it was.  She stumbled to her feet. 

“King Theta.”

He looked beautiful.  He wore a dark suit with a brown swirly tie, and his hair was as tousled as it always was.  She was glad that he was still keeping that look about him. 

“Please don’t call me that,” he laughed, and started to walk towards her.  

She knew he was waiting for permission, so she ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck.  He sighed and held onto her waist, burying his nose into her shoulder, his breathing heavy. 

“I missed you,” he said softly. 

“I missed you too,” she said, turning and pressing a kiss to his temple. “How did you find my office?”

“Jack,” Theta laughed, pulling back to look at her. “I didn’t think… I just needed to find you.”

She smiled, biting onto her bottom lip.  “That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard in my life, you realize that, right?”  
He beamed. “I’d certainly hoped so.  Can I kiss you now?”  
She laughed, nodding, and he took it as permission, leaning down to kiss her, his hands flexing and curling against her top.  He kissed her like he was starving for it, and Rose wrapped her arms even tighter around his neck, gripping onto him tightly. It felt so surreal to be in his arms again, but something was niggling at the back of her mind. She pulled away, grinning when he whined and tried to chase after her lips.

“Does Jack know then? About us?”

He nudged his nose against hers. “He said he suspected,” he admitted, “But I told him I needed to find you, and it was hard to hide why.”

She hugged him again, this time around the waist so she could lay her head on his shoulder.  She closed her eyes as his arms came tight around her. “Why did you come here?”

“I’m supposed to have a Queen,” he said softly, “And it won’t be long before advisors come to me to talk about who I’m supposed to pick and what I’m supposed to do.  But I don’t want anyone besides you.”

“What?” Rose pulled back again, furrowing her brows at him. 

“I want to marry you,” he said, “But obviously I would want to properly court you first.”

“Obviously.”

“I’m serious,” he said, reaching a hand to cup her cheek.  “You are so important to me, and I don’t want to be without you.  I know I’m asking a lot, so I can’t ask you to choose today.”

“Where are you staying?” She asked, turning into his hand.

“Jack got a hotel room.”

“You can… Stay with me, help me decide,” She said, pressing closer to him.

He swallowed heavily. “I love you,” he blurted out, “Before anything happens, before you decide, you have to know that I am absolutely, irrevocably in love with you.”

She froze.  “Really?”  
“Yes.  And I don’t expect you to say it back, I really dont, I just… I need you to know.”

“Stay with me tonight,” she said, “Hold me.  Don’t wake up in the morning to have me rush out.  I don’t know my answer, I just want to know what that feels like.”

He nodded. “I’ll tell Jack I’m going home with you.”  He kissed her again and darted from her office, presumably to talk to Jack. When he came back, it was with an overnight bag and a big, goofy smile.

Theta stayed with her while she finished her work, but so many people stopped by to ‘say hello’ to Rose and gawk at Theta that Sarah Jane, nearly bent over with laughter, told her to just go home. 

She was a bit embarrassed to show him her flat, since it was nowhere near as impressive as his home, but he didn’t say anything when they entered and she tossed her keys into a bowl by the door.  He followed after her, clearly not sure where to go without her. 

“Isn’t Jack afraid something terrible will happen to you if you’re not with him?” Rose asked, heading towards the fridge.

“I don’t think so.”  Theta replied. “I don’t really have enemies in London, and no one really knows I’m here anyway.”  
She smiled a little and opened the fridge.  “I… Don’t have a lot. I have some pizza from the other night, I made spaghetti a couple days ago, and-”  

She was cut off by him coming up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and mouthing his way down her neck. Her hands went slack and she tilted her head, letting him get better access.

“Theta…”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m not hungry.”

She turned around and kissed him, shoving her hands up into his hair, mussing it further.  Gel stuck to her fingers, but she didn’t mind. 

“Where’s your bedroom?”

She pulled him back to her room, blushing when they entered the room.  “It’s a little messy, I wasn’t expecting company.”

“Well, I’m glad to know that.”

She laughed and turned back to him, loosening his tie. “I don’t think I told you how much I missed you,” She said, “And it was only a week.”

“I missed you too,” He whispered, almost like it was a secret. “I turned around so many times to tell you something, or to invite you to come up to the observatory with me, and you weren’t there.  That’s why I want to marry you.”

She grinned, leaning up to kiss him again and shoving his jacket off of him.  Once it was gone he was on her, pushing her back onto her fluffy pink duvet and kissing her over and over again.  

They never did have dinner, instead opting to cuddle up and chat until they fell asleep.  Something that Rose wasn’t expecting was how good it felt to wake up with her head on his chest and his arms wrapped around her the next morning.  She sighed, pressing her cheek to his chest and letting her eyes flutter closed once more.

“Okay,” She said the moment she heard him start to stir and wake up.

“Hm?” His voice was rough and he started to comb his fingers through her hair. 

“I want to marry you,” She said, “But I don’t know how to make this work.”  She propped herself up on his chest and looked down into his eyes, which were hooded with sleep. 

“We’ll talk to Jack,” Theta promised. “But… Is that a yes?”  
Rose nodded, grinning.

He woke up immediately, propping himself up to kiss her softly.  “We’ll have to think of a different story of the proposal to the press, you know.  Can’t have them knowing you said yes to me when we were naked in bed, yeah?”

She giggled, wrapping her arms around him and feeling her heart nearly burst with happiness.  He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and rolled her onto her back, pulling out of the hug to press kisses along her jaw and down her neck.

This all made her so happy, him and the idea of a life with him, and she was only hoping that it would all work out in the end.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter seems a little jumpy, I just wanted to make it more like little vignettes up until the wedding!
> 
> One more chapter/epilogue combo to go!

 

Since Rose had finished up all her work on the coronation, she wasn’t in any trouble for wanting to leave with the King.  Luckily, Sarah Jane would’ve let her no matter what, since she thought the whole thing was terribly romantic.

Rose was a little giddy about the whole thing, but getting on a private jet with the King of Gallifrey and Jack was really very strange.  She sat next to him on the plane, her hand in his. She kissed his knuckles and looked over at him.

“So, I can still write for Sarah Jane, just under an alias?” She asked, furrowing her brows.  

“Yes,” Theta nodded. “Jack assured me that it would be it would be alright if you did that, but technically, the Queen isn’t supposed to speak out on political matters.  But if you write under an alias, it should be fine.

Rose grinned, feeling so much better about the whole thing.  Theta squeezed her hand and smiled back to her. She was sure that both of them looked like fools.

“Do you have any family to invite to the wedding?” Theta asked, after a few minutes.  

“I… My mum and I don’t really talk, something that happened when I was a teenager.  I have cousins, and such, but-”

“You should call her,” Theta said, “I’m sure she’d kept up with you, what you’re doing.  So I’m sure she’d like to be invited to the wedding.”

Rose sighed.  She hadn’t thought about her mother in a long while, which made her feel a bit terrible, actually.  She rubbed her forehead with her free hand. “You’re right. It wouldn’t hurt to call her.”

Theta kissed her on the cheek. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

“No, I’m not upset, I just don’t know what to do,” she laughed, “It’s been a long time, you know.”  She lifted a shoulder. “I’m afraid she’ll be disappointed in me.”

“Rose, you’re amazing,” Theta said softly, “I don’t think she could ever be disappointed in you.”

Rose blushed, “Well… I’m glad you think so.”

“I do.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. “Can we invite Martha and Donna?”

“I was hoping we would.”  

Making wedding plans with someone she’d known for a month was a little strange, but somehow felt right. There were no nerves in her bones, nothing telling her to run, and he sat right next to her when she called her mum for the first time in years. 

Jackie was surprised to hear from her daughter, and even more surprised to hear that she was marrying the King. Of course, she’d been keeping up with her career, as Theta thought she might, and she knew she’d been in Gallifrey, but had never expected anything like this before.  

“So… Um, will you come to the wedding?”

“Rose, I’d love to,” Jackie said seriously, “But I want to come up early and help plan! You’re still my only daughter!”

Rose laughed, feeling her eyes tear up.  “Thanks mum. I’ll have Jack send someone to get you.”

When Rose rang off, she found herself feeling a million times better.  She looked over to Theta and smiled. “She wants to help plan.”

Theta looked like he wanted to wrinkle his nose, but didn’t.  “Ah, well, that’s fine, she can do that if she likes.” He smiled at Rose. “Whatever makes you happy.”  
Rose wasn’t expecting the classes she had to take in diplomacy, which was the main reason she and Theta couldn’t be married for several months.  She hated studying it, even if she did understand it. 

“This is exhausting,” she groaned one night, throwing her head down on a Gallifrey history book.

Theta laughed, reaching out to card his hand through her hair. “I know.  It’s a lot. You’ll get it.”

“I don’t know,” She said, her voice muffled by the pages, “It’s so difficult to remember everything, and your bloody family tree.”

“Yes, I suppose that’s true, there’s been a lot of us.”  He bent down next to her and whispered in her ear, “But guess where we get to go tomorrow?”

She peeked up at him. “Where?”

“A gala for underprivileged children.  I attended every year when I was a Prince, so I am expected to attend now.”

Rose perked up a bit at that. “You support charities?”  
He laughed. “ _We_ support charities.”

********

The gala was what solidified Rose in the hearts of the Gallifreyan people.  She was on Theta’s arm, wearing a gown, and Rose really felt as though she might fit in here.  The people seemed to like her, and no one at the gala looked down on her in the slightest. They seemed to like her quite a lot, actually.

“What are you planning with that young British woman, your Majesty?” One young man asked Theta, who was looking at Rose as though he’d be the one taking her for a wife.  Theta frowned.

“She’s a friend of mine, Duke Saxon.  A very  _ close friend.” _

Catching the hint, the Duke backed off, raising a glass to Theta in congratulations.  Theta nodded in response, but still went to Rose and set a hand (Quite appropriately) on her shoulder, which was bared by her dress.

But any proprietary was thrown out the window when she and Theta snogged in the backseat of the royal car on the way home.  

The next day, photos of Rose were all over the magazines and newspapers, so Theta and the former king decided it was best to just announce the engagement.  

The wedding would take place in June, and her coronation as Queen would be held the day after. The thought of that made her break out into a sweat, because sometimes she forgot that she was marrying a King and not simply the man that she loved.  She loved Theta, though, and that was why she felt like she could do it. 

“She’ll be a wonderful Queen,” The former king told his son one night after Rose had gone to bed, exhausted from studying. 

“I think she will too,” Theta said, smiling.  “She’s brilliant.”

Jackie came up two weeks before the wedding to help with flowers and other last minute arrangements.  She was a whirlwind, and for a moment Rose forgot that they hadn’t spoken for so long. It was really wonderful to have a parent again, and on some level, she had Theta to thank for that.  

Because of Jackie, Theta, Martha and Donna, and the wedding coordinators, Rose didn’t have to worry too much, and at the very least, she didn’t really get overwhelmed.  Martha talked her down whenever she got too hyper anyway.

Theta walked with her through the chapel that they’d be married in, which was a bit  _ huge,  _ and Rose realized just how many people would watch her get married. It was a proper load, at least 800, by the looks of it.  She swallowed hard. She always imagined her wedding would be intimate, but this was anything but. 

“Wow,” she said, looking at the seats from the altar. “That’s a lot of people.”

“Even more will be watching on telly,” Theta reminded her gently.  “The uniting of two countries, as well as a royal wedding? That’s the stuff of fairytales, isn’t it?”

Rose smiled softly. ‘I suppose that’s true,” she said, leaning her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“But that’s not the point,’ he said softly.  “I get to marry you in front of millions of people.”

“Oi! Don’t even think about snogging in this church, you are not married yet!” Jackie Tyler looked up from the ribbons that were being used to decorate the chairs, and pointed at the two of them. 

Theta laughed.  “Well, I guess we should help your mother.”  
Rose squeezed his hands around her.  “No, hold onto me for one more moment.”  

He obliged, resting his temple against hers and then squeezed her before letting go and hurrying to help Jackie.  It made Rose smile, seeing him with her mum, and watching her mum slap the King of Gallifrey around a bit. Rose knew there was a time when Theta would’ve been upset by this, but he just smiled and shrugged it of, which made her tear up a little.  She turned away so that they wouldn’t worry.

The night before the wedding, Rose was so jittery at dinner that Theta’s father walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her.  The press had been after her since the wedding had been announced, and it filled her with an odd sort of fear.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he said, “Everything will be fine as long as the love is there.”

Rose nodded, but still noticed Theta’s worried expression directed at her.  

She wasn’t alone in her room for ten minutes before Theta knocked, and Rose opened the door for him immediately.

“Are you supposed to be here?” She teased.

“I’m supposed to protect you and make you feel safe,” he said, stepping into the room and shut the door behind himself.  “And I don’t think you feel safe tonight.”

Rose blew her cheeks out, letting the facade fall.  “Yeah,” She said softly. “I just- I’m afraid. I’m afraid I won’t own up to everything that’s expected of me, I’m afraid of the whole thing.”

“You’re not… You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

“No!” She reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him close to her so she could wrap her arms around his waist without him going anywhere. “I love you.”

He sighed and relaxed against her, wrapping his arms around her. “I love you too,” he replied, pressing his lips to the top of her head.  “I love you so much it scares me. I want you to be happy, and I want you to be happy here.”

“I will be,” Rose assured him, snuggling closer to his warmth.  He was so comfortable, and he made her feel incredibly safe. Holding him was unlike anything she had ever felt before and it was all she wanted to do forever.  The thought that she was going to made her feel incredibly giddy.

“I should go,” he said softly, after a few moments.

“No, stay with me tonight.”  She pulled back and looked up at him.  “Stay with me.”

He nodded and leaned down to kiss her, one hand coming up to cup her cheek.  He pulled back after a few moments and led her to bed. They snuggled up together underneath the blankets, and Rose threw her leg over his hips, wanting to be closer to him.  He pressed kisses to her forehead and temple, rubbing a hand over her back to soothe her.

“I’m sure it’s just pre wedding jitters,” she said, “And funnily enough, none of them have to do with you.”

He huffed out a laugh. “I know you’re not used to the crowds, Rose, but they really do adore you.”

“Yeah, I certainly hope so,” She said, her eyes fluttered closed as he stroked his fingers through her hair. 

“I really do love you,” He said softly.

“I really love you too,” She said, squeezing him around the waist.  

***********

The wedding was beautiful.  Rose was dressed in a gown that was quite huge, and the train was about seven feet long.  It made her feel like an absolute princess, which she supposed made sense, if nothing else.  

On the carriage ride, people screamed her name, which made her stomach churn and soar all at the same time.  A lot of them were holding signs in her favor, and the fact that people liked her made her definitely nervous. 

When they finally got to the church, she swallowed hard and linked her arm through her mother’s, who was walking her down the aisle since her father was gone.  

“Don’t be nervous,” Jackie said quietly, and honestly, everything was forgotten as soon as she saw Theta at the end of the aisle. He was dressed in his ceremonial garb, his hair still artfully tousled, with his royal crown resting atop it. He was the epitome of grace and royalty, and she nearly ran to him when she saw him.

Focusing on him, she forgot everything that made her afraid and nervous.  She grinned and saw him smile back at the end of the long aisle. She walked to him, and the ceremony began.  Most of it was a blur, but Rose absolutely was lost in his eyes. 

They didn’t kiss in Gallifreyan ceremonies, it was a handfasting instead.  The moment they were out of sight, thought, Theta grabbed her about the waist and kissed her until she couldn’t breathe.

She loved him so much it hurt. 

“And tomorrow, my love,” He whispered in her ear, “You become Queen.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is only fluff. 100% fluff. And I am NOT sorry
> 
>  
> 
> My next story will be canon verse, and then I'll probably return right back to AUs because I love them so much. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Rose’s coronation was beautiful.  She had to wear a heavy cape, her hair twisted up into an elaborate updo, Theta next to her in the side by side thrones.  They swore vows, Theta reaffirming his as King and Rose swearing new ones, and then they took vows swearing each other as partners. 

Rose’s heart thundered in her chest the whole time, afraid she’d mispronounce a word or do something stupid.  Somehow, she didn’t but she really,  _ really  _ thought she might also throw up all over her ceremonial dress. 

At the end of the ceremony, there was a reception at the castle, much like there had been at the end of Theta’s coronation, but this time, Rose didn’t leave halfway through. 

“Never leaving again,” she promised him, looping her arm through his.  He laid his hand over hers, squeezing her arm tight against him. “I should certainly hope not.”

Rose became incredibly beloved quite quickly among the people, which was something that shocked Rose, but not Theta.  He’d always known, since the moment he met her, that she would capture the hearts of the Gallifreyan people.

Days passed, and she was feeling quite comfortable with the whole thing, actually. It turned out being Queen wasn’t  _ terribly  _ difficult, and she was still able to work with Sarah Jane.  After several months, Rose found her happiness hadn’t diminished one bit. 

Rose didn’t necessarily like wearing a crown, even if it was just to royal events, but Jackie loved seeing her daughter done up and hosting galas and parties that went on at the palace.  As Queen, most of those duties fell to Rose, but she didn’t mind. She liked socializing with everyone, and how everyone was so kind to her.

Theta was a bit protective of her at these events, always holding a hand on her back or around her waist.  But she liked it quite a lot. The King of Gallifrey, possessive of  _ her.   _

“You really are amazing,” Theta said, looking around at Rose’s first Christmas at the palace.  “I think this is your best party so far.”

Rose smiled, glancing up at the white fairy lights that filled the ballroom.  “I thought nice and classy would be the way to go.”  
Theta pressed a kiss to her temple, right under a curl that was twisted back to hold her crown in place.  She smiled and looked up at him. “I don’t know, I just feel a little out of place, still.”

Theta looked at her, wearing a deep green dress with a full skirt. “I think you look lovely.”  
“Well you _would_ think that,” She said, rolling her eyes. “You’re biased.”  
“I am married to the loveliest woman in the galaxy.”

“There could be another woman who’s far lovelier than me on Mars,” Rose said, pointing at him.  

He grabbed her hand and kissed it, pulling her onto the dance floor.  She giggled, going with him and letting him wrap his arms around her in a manner that was appropriate for the royal family.  He nodded politely at couples that moved past them, as did Rose, but they really only had eyes for each other. Jackie was dancing with Theta’s father on the other end of the ballroom, both of them chatting on like old friends.   
“I’m glad she likes it here,” Rose said softly. 

“Me too,” Theta admitted. “I do feel like sometimes she doesn't like me.”

“She likes you,” Rose said, patting his shoulder.  “She just wants me back, I think, the way things were.  But it can’t be like that anymore, you know?”

“Yeah.”  He smiled down at her.  “You really are lovely.”

“You flatter me too much, Theta,” she said, blushing.  “But let me just say that I’m very glad I’m the one taking you upstairs tonight.”

He preened a bit. “Yeah?”  
“Yeah, you look absolutely delicious.”

He giggled and held her just a little closer, humming along with the music as he danced with her.  Rose let her eyes fall closed and settled her head on his shoulder, her crown tipping slightly.

He huffed out a laugh. “Tired?”

“Just happy.”

“Me too.”  
Once all the guests had gone home, and those working in the castle had gone home or gone to bed, Theta and Rose stayed up in their pajamas, making milkshakes in the kitchen.

More happy days followed, but fights followed too, and slamming of doors and gossip within the palace.  They always fell back together though, as people in love do, well and often. But there would be one day that changed them even further.

*****************

“Good morning, love,” Theta rumbled that morning almost a full two years after their marriage, rolling over in bed and kissing the back of her neck.  “My shining glory, my lovely,  _ lovely  _ Queen of Gallifrey.”  His voice was rough with sleep and also something else that it was almost far too early for.

She reached back and pushed her hand into his hair.  “Good morning,” she mumbled, not quite awake enough for anything else.

“Mm.”  His voice was muffled by her skin as he began to mouth his way down her back.  She turned over in his arms, wrapping her arms around him, clinging to him. He laughed a little but hugged her back, pushing his nose into her shoulder. “What’s this all about?”  He asked her softly, rubbing one hand soothingly up and down her back.

“I just love you,” She said softly, squeezing her eyes closed.  

He pulled back to look at her with worried eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just… I have to-” She sat up, out of his arms. “I have to tell you something, and I don’t know how to say it, or what you’ll think.”

Theta moved slowly to sit up, his hand settling on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?” He asked again, looking incredibly nervous and upset.  

She reached over and cupped his cheek in her hand.  “We just never talked about it,” she said, “But I’m pregnant.”

HIs face lit up and he reached out to touch her stomach, wonder written all over his features.  “Oh, Rose. Really?”

“Yeah,” She said, surprised by his reaction. “You’re not upset?”

“Why would I be upset?” he asked, frowning.  “This is the most wonderful thing that could ever happen to us.”  He kissed her softly and looked down at where their hands were now joined at her stomach. 

She blew out her cheeks in relief, leaning against him.  “I just thought you might not be ready for a baby, or you might think that I wasn’t going to be a good mother, or-”

“Rose… You’ll be an amazing mother.  I have no doubt.” He wrapped her completely in his arms.  “I love you so much, Rose, and I will continue to love you just like this.  And I’ll love our baby too.”

And they did.  Their lives were filled with happiness, the affection of their people, and two lovely children, a boy and a girl.  Rose felt overwhelming happiness every time she looked at her children, and a glance at Theta told her he felt exactly the same way about then.  She held him every chance she got. 

How easily they fell in love with each other every day, and their family was beautiful and their country prospered.

And everyone told the story of how Gallifrey’s bad boy fell in love with the woman who was only meant to tell stories about him. And yet, everyone ended up telling wonderful stories about her.


End file.
